Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RTEC), a leading provider of process
characterization equipment and software for wafer fabs and advanced
packaging facilities, announced today that it has acquired the assets of NanoPhotonics
GmbH, Mainz, Germany. The addition of NanoPhotonics’ inspection
technology and its substantial intellectual property portfolio will
strengthen Rudolph’s established presence in the high-growth advanced
packaging market.
Paul F. McLaughlin, chairman and chief executive officer of Rudolph,
noted, “The acquisition of NanoPhotonics significantly expands Rudolph’s
portfolio of intellectual property, which in turn expands our product
offerings into unpatterned wafer and mask blank inspection markets. This
acquisition enhances our capabilities in all-surface
inspection, which we believe will be critical in meeting the
emerging requirements in advanced packaging markets. We are adding a
highly-skilled team to our organization, and expect to quickly integrate
the NanoPhotonics operations into our existing inspection business.”
Dr. Michael Abraham, founder and president of NanoPhotonics stated, “We
believe our products and technologies are a good complement to Rudolph’s
current inspection suite of customer-focused offerings, and our team is
looking forward to ensuring a smooth transition. Rudolph’s competencies
in all-surface defect inspection are well known and will be a key asset
as our technologies are integrated into their portfolio. Additionally,
we believe Rudolph’s worldwide service and support infrastructure will
contribute to the success of these complementary businesses.”
McLaughlin added, “Rudolph has extensive experience in the back-end
manufacturing environment. We are taking NanoPhotonics’ sub-micron
resolution capability and applying it to a market that we know very well
to deliver an unmatched solution for our customers.”
Acquisition Furthers Rudolph’s Growth Strategy
McLaughlin
emphasized that this is one of several planned steps Rudolph will take
to expand the Company’s portfolio and drive its long-term growth
strategies in both front- and back-end manufacturing environments. “The
integration of additional inspection and metrology capability which is
the integral part of this acquisition is driving new customer insertion
points for Rudolph solutions while enhancing the overall value
proposition of our cluster
platforms.”
McLaughlin continued, “NanoPhotonics is profitable and the acquisition
is expected to be accretive within the first 12 months. It will add
approximately $2 million per quarter to our overall revenues and will
not have a material effect on our second quarter results.” While terms
were not disclosed, Rudolph noted that this all-cash transaction used
less than five percent of the Company’s overall cash. Rudolph plans to
maintain and expand a technology center in Mainz, Germany as operations
are integrated into the Company.
Products included in the acquisition are all-surface inspection systems
(wafer edge, backside and front side) for 200, 300 and 450 mm wafers, as
well as mask blank inspection systems. Primary customers for unpatterned
wafer inspection are semiconductor manufacturers who use these tools for
quality assurance and yield improvement purposes, silicon wafer
manufacturers and substrate suppliers for compound semiconductors. Mask
blank systems are sold to mask shops, manufacturers of process tool
equipment and mask blank manufacturers.
The company will provide more information on this acquisition in its 2nd
Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call scheduled for July 30, 2012.
Rudolph Technologies, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the design,
development, manufacture and support of defect inspection, process
control metrology, and data analysis systems and software used by
semiconductor device manufacturers worldwide. Rudolph provides a
full-fab solution through its families of proprietary products that
provide critical yield-enhancing information, enabling microelectronic
device manufacturers to drive down the costs and time to market of their
products. The company’s yield management solutions are used in both the
wafer processing and final manufacturing of ICs, as well as in emerging
markets such as LED and Solar. Headquartered in Flanders, New Jersey,
Rudolph supports its customers with a worldwide sales and service
organization. Additional information can be found on the company’s web
site at www.rudolphtech.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) which include Rudolph’s business momentum
and future growth; the benefit to customers of Rudolph’s products and
customer service; Rudolph’s ability to both deliver products and
services consistent with our customers’ demands and expectations and
strengthen its market position; Rudolph’s expectations regarding the
company’s anticipated revenue as a result of the acquisition; as well as
other matters that are not purely historical data. Rudolph wishes to
take advantage of the “safe harbor” provided for by the Act and cautions
that actual results may differ materially from those projected as a
result of various factors, including risks and uncertainties, many of
which are beyond Rudolph’s control. Such factors include, but are not
limited to, the company’s ability to leverage its resources to improve
its position in its core markets; the businesses of Rudolph and
NanoPhotonics may not be integrated successfully, which may result in
the resultant business not operating as effectively and efficiently as
expected or such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or
costly than expected; expected combination benefits from the acquisition
may not be fully realized or realized within the expected time frame;
revenues following the acquisition may be lower than expected; costs,
customer loss and business disruption, including, without limitation,
difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, customers,
clients or suppliers, may be greater than expected following the
consummation of the acquisition; or the businesses of the companies may
suffer as a result of uncertainty surrounding the transaction.
Additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by
Rudolph are available in Rudolph’s Form 10-K report for the year ended
December 31, 2011 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. As the forward-looking statements are based on Rudolph’s
current expectations, the company cannot guarantee any related future
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Rudolph does
not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information
contained in this press release.
