INDUSTRY NEWS

EXPANSIONS AND ACQUISITIONS

Tencor gets Ultrapointe

Tencor Instruments strengthened its product line with the purchase of Ultrapointe, a San Jose­based manufacturer of defect review tools, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition gives Tencor all licenses to Ultrapointe's advanced confocal laser microscope technology and automatic defect classification software. Tencor has been the exclusive reseller of Ultrapointe's products since November 1995 under the terms of a three-year agreement. The technology allows operators to detect defects ¾0.1 µm. Ultrapointe will be merged into Tencor's data management systems business, which is part of the company's wafer inspection division.

Applied sees promised land

Applied Materials paid approximately $285 million to buy two Israel-based vendors that serve the growing worldwide market for metrology and inspection equipment. The giant manufacturer of wafer-processing tools purchased Opal, a supplier of critical dimension-scanning electron microscope systems based in Nes Ziona, for about $175 million. Applied paid an additional $110 million for Orbot Instruments, a manufacturer of automated optical inspection systems with headquarters in Yavne.

The global market for metrology and inspection tools is forecast to grow from $1.25 billion in 1996 to $3.43 billion in 2001, reflecting a 22% compound annual growth rate, according to research data cited by Applied. Opal earned $62 million in the 12-month period ended September 30, 1996. Orbot's revenues for the same period were $36 million. Applied opened an Israeli subsidiary, Applied Materials Israel, in 1990. Both Orbot and Opal are small firms that expect to benefit from their new parent's large customer base.

PRI adds to robot line

PRI Automation has signed an agreement with Shinko Electric Co. of Tokyo to integrate Shinko's line of mobile robot products into the automation systems sold by PRI in the United States, Europe, and Asia. With the pact, PRI expands its family of intrabay automation products, while Shinko improves its access to the worldwide automation market. According to PRI, Shinko has the largest installed base of intrabay automated guide vehicles in the world, with a particular concentration in Asian fabs. The American vendor says it is the largest supplier of fab automation systems in the United States and Europe. PRI's track-guided robots are suited for high-throughput bays with multilot batch tools, according to the vendor. Shinko's robots roam freely and are suitable for low throughput bays with cross-aisle process flow.

Seal firm to build cleanroom

Seal manufacturer Greene, Tweed & Co. will build a 7000-sq-ft cleanroom as part of its 20,000-sq-ft facility under construction in Selma, TX, near San Antonio. The room will house Class 100 and Class 1000 environments for manufacturing the vendor's Chemraz line, including AquaPro and PlasmaPro seals. Completion is set for the end of this year.

Air filter line debuts

Two suppliers specializing in air filtration have teamed up to make and sell cartridges based on an advanced technology for removing airborne molecular contamination. Hoechst Celanese of Charlotte, NC, and Filtration Group of Joliet, IL, will manufacture the line of air filter cartridges for OEM, HVAC, and process air applications. The products are based on Hoechst's Celbond Particulate Structure technology and are available through the Filtration Group under the AQF trademark. The cartridges achieve high reductions in airborne molecular contamination, the partners claim.

Prudential buys Mexico site

Prudential Cleanroom Services has acquired Alameda Industries, a San Diego­based vendor of cleanroom consumable products, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition includes a plant in Mexico, giving Prudential a foothold in the Mexican consumables market. The addition of Alameda also enables Prudential to offer complete reusable cleanroom garment and consumable services through its industrial services division.

G&K buys laundries

The cleanroom division of G&K Services has purchased Allied Clean Room Technologies, a garment processing service with plants in Phoenix and Albuquerque. Minneapolis-based G&K will convert both operations into Class 1 laundries. The plants are among nearly a dozen Class 1 operations the vendor says it will open through the middle of this year, including a garment processing facility planned to open in the Dallas/Austin corridor early in the year.

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