E Ink to buy e-reader tech competitor SiPix

MANHASSET, N.Y. -- Electronic paper display specialist E Ink Holdings has signed a definitive agreement to buy shares of SiPix Technology, a provider of rival electrophoretic technologies.

E Ink will be adding to its current over 90 percent share in the e-reader consumer market. SiPix has a competitive technology.

The Taiwan-based company has reached an agreement to buy 82.7 percent of SiPix’s shares and is seeking to buy up to 100 percent, which is valued at approximately NT$1.5 billion (about $50 million). After customary regulatory approvals, the final closing is likely to be during Q4, 2012.

“Our goal is ‘E Ink On Every Smart Surface’ and we are continuing to make investments in technologies that will open new markets for our e-paper displays,” said Scott Liu, chairman of E Ink Holdings, in a statement.

E Ink’s technology is being used in over 50 million e-paper displays worldwide.

In the past 15 years, E Ink has made investments in inventing, designing, manufacturing and marketing e-paper displays for new markets.

With this purchase, E Ink will widen its offerings of e-paper technologies. E Ink claims it is already the world's largest supplier of displays to the e-book market.

The buyout announcement does not mention the fate of future color e-reader displays using possible offshoots of electrophoretic technologies.