Asyst to buy domainLogix and form connectivity unit for fab tools
URL: siliconstrategies.com
FREMONT, Calif.--Asyst Technologies Inc. today announced an agreement to acquire e-diagnostics startup domainLogix Corp. in Austin, Tex., and plans to form a new group for emerging equipment connectivity applications.
Along with acquiring three-year-old domainLogix, the Fremont company said it was striking a partnership with Satyam Computer Services Ltd. in India, which will leverage its software development teams in the expansion of Asyst's business into new connectivity services.
The terms of the acquisition and alliance with Satyam were not disclosed.
The move comes as competition between Asyst and Brooks Automation Inc. of Chelmsford, Mass., intensifies in wafer fab automation and tool networking. Brooks, the world's largest fab software supplier, is acquiring PRI Automation Inc. to create a new merged supplier of fab automation with annual revenues over $700 million (see March 4 news feature).
Asyst, a pioneer in mini-environment systems, has also been expanding its business through acquisitions. Last year, Asyst acquired GW Associates Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., for $32 million to gain communications software technologies used to connect fab equipment together (see May 22, 2001, story).
"The agreements we are announcing today, combined with our acquisition last year of tool communication software leader GW Associates, position Asyst to be the leading global supplier of equipment connectivity solutions, which are the software products and services that provide connectivity between equipment and every layer of the semiconductor fab," said Mihir Parikh, chairman and CEO of Asyst.
"Furthermore, we believe that our solutions can provide the vital interface through which the 'e-manufacturing' revolution will flow, and position us to take a leading role in expanding markets such as e-diagnostics, recipe management and advanced process control."
Asyst's new Connectivity Solutions Group will have two primary divisions: Connectivity Products, and Connectivity Services:
The Connectivity Products Division will have as its backbone the products of GW Associates, such as communications software compliant with SEMI's SECS/GEM connectivity standard. GW Associates helped to pioneer communications products compatible with the SEMI Equipment Communications Standard (SECS) and General Equipment Model (GEM) formats.
Austin-based domainLogix is expected to contribute its upcoming OBEM XP networking technology, which contains a next-generation tool communication standard (Object-Based Equipment Model). The Texas startup has been rolling out various portion of its OBEM XP system in the past couple of years, including a commercially available e-diagnostics framework that conforms with proposed industry guidelines from International Sematech (see June 29, 2001, story).
Asyst's new Connectivity Services Division will provide high-level fab automation consulting/engineering services, advanced product development and integration services for customers and for other Asyst divisions. The current consulting operations of domainLogix will be folded into a new company, called Asyst Consulting Solutions Inc. Asyst said it has also formed Asyst Integration Services (India) Pvt. Ltd., which will provide cost-effective integration services and will leverage offshore product development provided through the partnership with Satyam. |
