Samsung eyes OLED market with $350 million acquisition

Samsung Electronics and Cheil Industries have agreed to pay 260 million $350 million for a 90% stake in Novaled, a German company that specialises in improving the performance of organic light-emitting diodes OLEDs used in smartphone displays and the next generation of televisions.

The consortium of sellers are mostly European private equity firms that provided three rounds of funding between 2003 and 2009, according to Capital IQ data. The transaction includes a 30 million payment, contingent on reaching certain milestones, and values Novaled at roughly 260 million.

The two buyers are both members of the Samsung group. Cheil Industries is buying 50%, while Samsung Electronics is...