Applied Materials will buy the Italian firm, who produces solar PV materials, for 225 million euros, in an effort to strengthen its presence in the crystalline solar PV market.
Applied Materials hopes that the acquisition will help it become a leading provider of crystalline silicon cells. The Californian firm, which has traditionally focused on thin film, will thus step ahead in crystalline technology as well.
This goes somehow against many analysts predictions, which point at a trend in which thin film will overtake crystalline technology in the coming years due to lower costs.
This is not Applied Materials' first acquisition this year, as they already bought HCT Shaping Systems (a wafer manufacturer) in the summer.