July 27, 2007 – SUSS MicroTec has carved out its device bonder division through a management buyout initiated by SUSS France president Gael Schmidt, in order to gain independence from the parent company which has little strategic synergies.
The new company, SET (a nod to the original company founded in 1975, Sulzer Electro-Technique), capitalized with about 40,000 euros (US $55,000), will target key markets including advanced packaging, MEMS, and nanoimprint lithography. It is targeting 2007 sales of about 8 million euros (~$11 million) this year, roughly 5% of SUSS’ overall group sales.
Design and fabrication will be done by the French division of Saint-Jeoire. SUSS MicroTec SAS in France, with 14 employees, will continue sales and support operations for other SUSS products.
“The SUSS group has decided to focus on its core business and [the] device bonder segment had few synergies with the other SUSS products,” SET said in a statement, though indicating that “future collaboration between both companies is possible for specific markets.”