Samsung buys German display company, sacks engineers
Samsung Display Co. has acquired Cynora GmbH (Bruchsal, Germany) for about $300 million but also laid off staff, according to reports.
Samsung was already an investor in Cynora (see LG and Samsung back Cynora with €25 million investment), a company developing organic light emitting diode (OLED) materials to improve both rigid displays and foldable, flexible and transparent displays.
The company claims to be a pioneer of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and has blue and green emitter solutions that aim to improve the power efficiency and color contrast of OLED displays. Its first product a fluorescent blue emitter, debuted in March 2020.
Samsung is apparently only interested in the intellectual property and patents and not the company and employees. The local daily newspaper Badische Neue Nachrichten quoted the Mayor of Bruchsal, Cornelia Petzold-Schick, confirming the lay-off and saying she is horrified and shocked at the development.
The company may have been running low on cash in need of an exit to return funds to backers, according to a Bloomberg report that referenced unnamed sources.
The Cynora website continues to function but makes no reference to the acquisition.
Related links and articles:
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Cynora secures US$25M in series C round, names new CEO
LG and Samsung back Cynora with €25 million investment
Flexible OLED prototype points way to mass production
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