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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsIn February 2005, Merck KGaA agreed to buy Avecia’s OLED-materials and polymer-electronics activities for €50 million in cash, according to the announcement at the time. Merck’s later acquisition history records the deal at €49.3 million. The businesses included Covion Organic Semiconductors in Frankfurt and polymer-electronics research and development in Manchester.
What Merck agreed to buy
The announced transaction covered Avecia Ltd.’s organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials business and its polymer-electronics activities. The scope included Covion Organic Semiconductors GmbH, based in Frankfurt, which designed, developed and manufactured OLED materials, as well as Avecia’s polymer-electronics research and development work in Manchester.
At the time, Merck described potential polymer-electronics applications as including solar cells, organic thin-film transistors and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. That describes areas the research could serve; it does not establish that the acquired activities were already selling each type of product at commercial scale.
How much Merck paid
EE Times reported on February 8, 2005, that Merck had agreed to pay €50 million in cash, approximately $64 million at the time. Merck’s retrospective acquisitions history lists the 2005 acquisition as €49.3 million and classifies it under Electronics. These are figures from different records: the announcement’s rounded price and the later company-history entry. They should not be treated as identical reported amounts.
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EE Times also reported Covion sales of approximately €8 million (about $10 million) in 2004. That figure refers to Covion’s reported sales before the acquisition, not the price paid for the broader activities.
Why Merck pursued the businesses
Merck planned to integrate the acquired activities into its liquid crystals division. The deal gave the company a foothold in OLED materials and polymer electronics while it continued to regard liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) as the near-term leader in flat-panel displays.
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Merck chairman Bernhard Scheuble said, “It is apparent that liquid crystal displays will be the dominant flat-panel technology for some years to come,” and described the acquisition as “an opportunity to explore alternative technologies for the future, which is a prudent step for any market leader.”
The rationale was to explore technologies that might matter in the future, not to declare that OLEDs had already displaced LCDs.
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Employees and expected closing schedule
The 2005 report said approximately 100 employees were expected to transfer to Merck when the sale completed. It also said regulatory approval was required and that completion was expected in the first quarter of 2005. That was the announced timetable; the report itself did not confirm the closing date. Merck’s later history lists the acquisition under 2005.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the 2005 deal differs from Merck’s later OLED patent sale
Merck’s purchase from Avecia was an acquisition of operating activities and research work. It is separate from Universal Display Corporation’s later agreement to acquire OLED patent assets from Merck. In a November 2025 announcement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Universal Display said the separate transaction covered more than 300 issued and pending patents across more than 110 patent families; later SEC filings recorded its closing in January 2026. Those assets were patents, not the Avecia businesses bought in 2005.
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Universal Display’s announcement also described Merck’s later focus on transport and host materials after transferring emissive-layer intellectual property. That later portfolio strategy does not establish the financial return or commercial outcome of Merck’s 2005 acquisition.
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