Euro Focus

08/01/2000

Mattson plans to acquire STEAG unit, CFM

In two deals valued at about $550 million at recent stock prices, Mattson Technology, Fremont, CA, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire STEAG Electronic Systems AG's Semiconductor Division and CFM Technologies.

The move, according to Mattson, could transform the firm into one of the top 15 vendors of semiconductor capital equipment. In 1999, Mattson's revenues were $103 million; the estimated revenue of the three combined businesses for 2000 is anticipated to be $497 million and $733 million in 2001.

With the mergers, Mattson says it is executing three of its seven critical initiatives, that is to become a multi-product company, a global company, and one of the top ten semiconductor equipment vendors.

The transactions are expected to close simultaneously in January 2001, and each is conditioned upon the other's closing. Under the terms of the agreement, STEAG Electronic Systems AG, Essen, Germany, will receive approximately 11,850,000 common shares of Mattson stock, which translates to approximately 32 percent of the company's outstanding stock. Shareholders at CFM, Exton, PA, will receive 0.5223 shares of Mattson stock for every one share of CFM held, or approximately 4.1 million shares of Mattson common stock. Once the deal is completed, Mattson will own all the intellectual property from the two companies.

"The combination of CFM and STEAG places the new company into the first tier of suppliers in the wet technology market," notes Dan Hutcheson, president of VLSI Research.

When the deal is complete Mattson will combine its offerings into three product groups: plasma products, thermal products, and wet processing. A president has been named for each group: STEAG exec Peter Augustin, president of thermal products; Mattson COO David Dutton, president of plasma products; and CFM CEO Roger Carolin has been named president of wet processing. Each president will report directly to CEO Brad Mattson. STEAG's Ludger Viefhues will become president and COO following the deal's closing.

"The new Mattson will be able to offer 80 steps, or 40 percent, of the 200 steps associated with processing a wafer," said CEO Mattson. The company's goal is to go after $50 million in orders from each new facility being constructed.

As a result of the mergers, Mattson will add rapid thermal processing, CVD, and wet processing competencies from STEAG, along with wet processing from CFM, to its own RTP, resist strip/etch, CVD, and epitaxial offerings. The deal excludes STEAG's optical storage and photomask operations.

Mattson does not plan to combine any of the global production facilities for at least the next twelve months. "For now we are going to keep everything as is," said Mattson.

The acquisition plan comes one year after CFM and Mattson announced that the two companies had formed a technology and marketing alliance, which was designed to offer customers options in both wet and dry wafer processes.

When asked how the company will mesh its product offerings on wet cleaning and photoresist strip, Mattson said, "Initially we'll focus on wet, the two technologies complement [each other] but will not be competitive. Our plans are to offer a complete wet processing solution first."

BASF sees 20% shortfall in hydroxylamine supply

Following the June 10 explosion at Nisshin Chemicals' Gunma plant in Japan, BASF, of Ludwigshafen, Germany, is currently the world's main source of supply for hydroxylamine, a chemical crucial to semiconductor manufacturing.

With the loss of its only competitor's hydroxylamine plant, BASF holds a monopoly position in that crucial component of semiconductor process strippers and cleaners, and demand is growing. "BASF hasn't finished its market survey yet, but we are estimating the world market to be around 5000 metric tons," said a spokesman for the company.

"We are debottlenecking to 4000 metric tons by the end of the third quarter; we are confident to get even more capacity from this plant. The shortfall should be bearable."

Meanwhile, the company is rationing hydroxylamine free base and contemplating opening a new plant for its manufacture, preferably in the US. Minimum construction time would be a year, the spokesman said, and that would not include any regulatory approvals.

A decision is expected within a month.

Philips to buy IBM MiCRUS fab

In a move that will double its BiCMOS capacity, Philips Semiconductors is planning to buy IBM's MiCRUS semiconductor fab in East Fishkill, NY.

The Netherlands-based chipmaker now says capital investments this year will total 2 billion Euro (about US$1.91 billion). "Buying the fab is a step function in manufacturing, increasing output in the shortest time possible," said Philips' executive vice president and COO Stuart McIntosh. Philips plans to have six fully operational 8-inch fabs running by the end of the year. Despite this latest capacity addition, Philips said it will be capacity- constrained throughout the year 2000.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but officials at both companies expect the transaction to be finalized by the end of this month. Philips also said it will invest some $100 million at the site to increase capacity and production capabilities over the next few years.

The MiCRUS fab produces roughly 250,000 200mm wafers/year using 0.35 micron and 0.25 micron CMOS processes. As part of the purchase agreement, Philips will supply product from the plant to IBM through 2002. Philips said the acquisition will give it an immediate 12.5% boost to total capacity, and will allow it to more than double its BiCMOS capacity by the end of 2001.

The MiCRUS operation began as a joint venture between IBM and Cirrus Logic, and was later bought out by IBM. The facility employs 950 people, all of whom Philips expects to retain.

SOITEC plans 300mm SOI production

After receiving its first orders for 300mm silicon-on-insulator wafers, SOITEC, Bernin, France, says it will begin production of the larger SOI substrates and has plans to equip a new 300mm SOI manufacturing line early next year.

The company says it will deliver the first 300mm SOI wafers in the next couple of months, though it did not disclose the identity of the customers. A number of chipmakers have disclosed plans for 300mm fabs in recent months. In general, these fabs are expected to begin production in the 2002 timeframe using 0.13 micron processing technologies; pilot 300mm production is already under way at a number of sites.

In an announcement discussing plans for 300mm SOI production, SOITEC officials said they believe the industry transition to 300mm wafers along with the introduction of 0.13 micron manufacturing "is an opportunity for SOI, considered the industry's standard of choice of 0.13 micron logic devices."

Jean-Yves Lindheimer, European sales manager for SOITEC, adds that the company is seeing SOI demand not only for microprocessors and other high-end applications, but also for low-end applications in the automotive and telecommunications sectors.

SOITEC's initial 300mm SOI wafer production will get under way with the help of Japanese silicon giant Shin-Etsu Handotai (SEH), with which SOITEC formed an alliance several years ago to produce 300mm SOI wafers. The work will be followed by the installation of 200mm/300mm bridge tools at the company's Bernin production plant. Lindheimer said the 300mm-compatible equipment gives the company the greatest production flexibility, allowing it to manufacture 200mm wafers if needed. Recently, SOITEC placed a third order for Applied Materials' xR200S ion implanters to increase production of SOI wafers. Applied helped SOITEC produce its first 300mm SOI wafer in 1997 by performing the hydrogen implantation step on one of its 300mm high-current implanters.

SOITEC's current plans call for pre-production of 300mm SOI wafers to begin early next year, followed by full production in 2002 in an expanded production area dedicated to 300mm wafers.

Euro Briefs

Philips Semiconductors, an affiliate of Royal Philips Electronics, has announced the opening of an Euro 8.1 million ($7.8 million) extension of its IC design and innovation center at Southampton in southern England.

The investment will create more than 200 new software and hardware designer jobs over two years, adding to more than 500 employees currently working at the center. The Southampton center designs ICs for consumer products such as CD and DVD players, digital TVs, set-top boxes, and global positioning systems.

Varian Inc. announced recently that work has started on a 40,000-sq-ft expansion of the manufacturing plant at its Vacuum Technologies facility in Turin, Italy. The facility, along with its sister plant in Lexington, MA, produces vacuum pumps and related products for the fast-growing markets of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and scientific instrumentation. The expansion will help Varian to meet increased demand for its vacuum products, particularly turbopumps.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. has officially opened its Livingston Design Center (LDC) in Scotland. The $30 million LDC is the world's largest independent electronics design center. Its focus is digital and analog IC and electronic systems design for wireless and datacom/telecom applications. The LDC is located in The Alba Campus, the hub of a major Scottish initiative that began in 1997 to form a center of excellence in electronics design.