DIC acquires PCAS Canada

Japan’s DIC Corporation has acquired PCAS Canada from PCAS, a legacy subsidiary of Seqens, for an enterprise value of €82 million, and has renamed it Innovation DIC Chimitroniques. This follows agreement by both boards and the workers’ council.

PCAS Canada has a facility near Montreal producing photoresists for semiconductor photolithography, an area in which DIC expects substantial growth. DIC will combine these with its own syntheis technologies and will continue to invest in the site.

DIC has also just completed its investment in Debut Biotechnology, a vertically integrated synthetic biology company based in California, in its Series B financing round. This is part of its corporate strategy of investment creating new businesses in healthcare and colour science, as per the DIC Vision 2030 long-term management plan.

Debut applies fermentation and cell-free biomanufacturing using its own enzyme discovery and design technologies to make rare, naturally-derived organic compounds. The two companies have already been working on developing natural pigments since July 2021, including polyphenols for cosmetics- and nutrition-related applications.