Taiwan's Prime View International (PVI) announced Monday it had bought US firm E Ink Corp., maker of the electronic paper display for the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, for 215 million dollars.

"Combining E Ink and PVI creates a single public company that is dedicated to electronic paper," said Russ Wilcox, the co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based E Ink.

"With a common ownership structure, we can get closer to customers around the world, streamline the supply chain, and speed up new product development," he said.

"The world is searching for green technology that saves energy and cuts waste and still provides an outstanding experience," said Scott Liu, chairman and chief executive officer of PVI, a manufacturer of e-paper display modules.

"E Ink's electronic paper meets those needs, especially in electronic publishing and mobile displays," he said. "The people in both companies will unite to provide the world's best digital reading experience."

The privately held E Ink is the provider of the electronic paper display technology in the Kindle, the Sony Reader, an upcoming electronic reader made by US-based company Plastic Logic and other models.

In a press release, PVI said the e-paper display module market was forecast to grow to more than three billion dollars by 2013.

"The market for electronic book devices such as the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle is forecasted to grow from 1.1 million units in 2008 to 20 million units in 2012," it quoted iSuppli analyst Vinita Jakhanwal as saying.

E Ink and PVI currently support nearly 20 e-book manufacturers worldwide.

E Ink reported sales of 18 million dollars in the first quarter of 2009, up 157 percent over the same quarter last year.

PVI said E Ink's headquarters will remain in Cambridge and the company is expected to expand from 127 to 150 employees this year.