June 28, 2000
Tech Center
Mattson to Acquire Chip-Making Assets
In Stock Deal Worth $645.8 Million
By KHANH T.L. TRAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Mattson Technology Inc. agreed to acquire CFM Technologies Inc. and the chip-making-equipment division of Germany's Steag Electronic Systems AG for $645.8 million in stock, in a bid to expand its product lines and increase its market share.
Mattson of Fremont, Calif., said it plans to announce the transaction Wednesday. The company supplies equipment used to heat wafers, deposit chemicals on wafers and carry out other processes related to making chips. It said the acquisitions of CFM and the Steag division will allow it to expand its menu of equipment used to heat wafers. It also said it will be able to offer machines that clean wafers and use copper as the conductive material in chips.
Mattson will issue 11.9 million shares of its common stock to Steag and 4.5 million shares to CFM of West Chester, Pa.
Mattson said that as part of the agreement, a patent lawsuit CFM filed against Steag several years ago will be dropped. Mattson said CFM had received an injunction enjoining Steag from shipping its products to the U.S.
"You'd be buying a lawsuit if you bought them separately," said Brad Mattson, chairman and chief executive at Mattson. "Getting one without the other wouldn't be the solution."
Ludger Viefhues, chief financial officer at Steag, will become president and chief operating officer at Mattson. He succeeds David Dutton, who will be appointed president of one of the three divisions Mattson plans to form after the acquisition closes in January. CFM CEO Roger Carolin will become president of the division responsible for wafer-cleaning equipment.
At 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Tuesday, Mattson was up 6.25 cents at $39.50, and CFM was down 62.5 cents at $13.75. |
