Dutch chip equipment maker BE Semiconductor Industries (BESI) has emerged as an acquisition target for major U.S. chip equipment companies. Lam Research and Applied Materials are reported to be considering acquiring BESI.

Reuters reported on March 13 that the talks began in mid-2025, but were suspended early this year due to geopolitical tensions between the United States and the European Union over Greenland and have recently resumed.

Reuters reported the details citing unnamed sources.

Acquiring a Dutch company with strategic technology requires a national security review. BESI has appointed Morgan Stanley as adviser to review acquisition proposals, but is reported to be maintaining its stance that it will keep independent management.

After the acquisition review was reported, BESI shares jumped as much as 14 percent intraday on March 13 to hit a record high.

Applied Materials acquired a 9 percent stake in BESI in April 2025 to become its largest shareholder. The two companies have cooperated in hybrid bonding. Hybrid bonding is a technology that links chips using copper-to-copper connections to boost data transfer speeds and reduce power consumption.

BESI's performance is solid. Its order intake in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose 43 percent from a year earlier to 250 million euros, supported by demand for data centres and AI chips. BESI earlier also signed a multi-million dollar contract to supply 26 hybrid bonding systems. The counterparty is presumed to be Intel.

BESI said it would not comment on market rumours and would focus on executing its strategy as an independent company. Morgan Stanley and Applied Materials also declined to comment, and Lam Research did not respond.