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Kindle Display Maker E Ink to Be Bought for $215M
By: AP | 01 Jun 2009 | 12:33 PM ET
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E Ink Corp., the maker of the innovative display for the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, said Monday it has agreed to be acquired by a Taiwanese company for $215 million.

The buyer is Prime View International, which has been Cambridge, Massachusetts-based E Ink's partner in making "electronic ink" displays for Amazon.com Inc. [AMZN  Loading...      ()   ] and Sony Corp. [SNE  Loading...      ()   ]

The deal will help the combined company develop color versions of its displays and mass produce them by the end of 2010, said Sriram Peruvemba, E Ink's vice president of marketing. Current models show shades of gray.

Privately held E Ink is expected to demonstrate its latest color display prototypes Tuesday at a display technology show in San Antonio.

E Ink's displays are used in e-book readers because they look similar to regular paper and consume very little power. However, they take a relatively long time to switch between images, making navigation slow.

E Ink makes the top layer of the electronic ink displays, then ships them to Prime View, which adds a bottom layer that's similar to those used in LCD panels. Prime View bought the electronic ink technology of Royal Philips Electronics NV in 2005.

E Ink, which was spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it had raised more than $150 million from investors, including Intel Corp. [INTC  Loading...      ()   ], Motorola Corp. [MOT  Loading...      ()   ] and Hearst Corp. E Ink had first-quarter revenue of $18 million. It has not revealed whether it is profitable.

Peruvemba said E Ink expects to keep its offices and factory in Massachusetts and is continuing to hire, but the headquarters of the combined company will be in Taiwan.

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