Management group buys Brooks-PRI's Swiss unit
By Semiconductor Business News
May 27, 2003 (9:10 AM)
URL: siliconstrategies.com
TAEGERWILEN, Switzerland -- A management group has acquired a majority interest in Brooks-PRI Automation (Switzerland) GmbH for an undisclosed price.
The group has also formed a new company from the Swiss operation. The new entity will maintain its operation in Taegerwilen under the name Tec-Sem. Tec-Sem will continue to offer tool buffers, batch transfer systems, and test wafer management solutions for the semiconductor industry.
“The formation of a company dedicated to critical, yet highly specialized automation solutions is the best answer to the economic constraints of the industry,” said Rudy Federici, CEO of Tec-Sem, in a statement. “In addition, Tec-Sem and Brooks will work together to meet customers' product and service needs for test wafer management solutions worldwide.”
Federici, along with Jakob Blattner and Walter Groebli, led the management team to form Tec-Sem.
In 1988, Tec-Sem was founded as Tec-Sem Blattner AG. Then, in 1999, it became a stand-alone company through a management buyout lead by Blattner and Federici. Brooks Automation then acquired Tec-Sem in 2001.
Tec-Sem's test wafer stocker makes use of an ultra-dense, cost-effective storage methodology in which wafers are stored "bare" rather than in carriers. Tec-Sem's tool OEM solutions focus primarily on batch handling and the large tool buffer requirements of wet benches, furnaces and high-throughput process tools. |
