Versum Materials Inc., which has a research and development facility in Hometown, announced today that it has entered into a merger agreement with Entegris Inc.

The merger creates a specialty chemical company that will supply products for purifying, protecting and transporting materials used in the manufacturing process in the semiconductor and other high-tech industries.

The merged company will set up its headquarters in Massachusetts.

Versum Materials Inc. was created in 2016 when Air Products and Chemicals Inc. spun off its Electronic Materials Division, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. rather than the Lehigh Valley. The new company employed approximately 3,300 employees at its plants in Hometown, Arizona, Taiwan and Korea.

Entegris, based in Billerica, Massachusetts, was founded in 1966 as Fluoroware. Following a merger 20 years ago, it rebranded as Entegris and went public in 2000. Five years later, the company expanded through another merger, this time with Mykrolis Corp. In 2014, Entegris bought electronic-chemicals supplier ATMI Inc. It now has about 3,500 employees.

No announcement has been made regarding either company’s facilities or employees.