EXPANSIONS AND ACQUISITIONS

Millipore seals Tylan deal

Its $133-million acquisition of Tylan General now completed, Millipore hopes to make good on its plans to offer chipmakers the combined technological benefits of both vendors. When the deal was first proposed last December, C. William Zadel, Millipore's chairman and CEO, singled out the synergy attached to merging the "breakthrough" technologies of Tylan General's "intelligent" gas panels and Millipore's "smart" purifiers. The acquisition will enable both suppliers to develop integrated products for the gas-delivery market that provide reliability and low cost, Zadel asserted. Iris Kimber, Millipore's marketing communications manager, notes that the combination of technologies affects gas delivery from both a "process and a contamination control perspective."

A specialist in purification technology, Bedford, MA-based Millipore says the acquisition will strengthen its position in the microelectronics area, which has been the vendor's fastest growing market over the past three years. Tylan General, which is headquartered in San Diego, manufactures precision mass-flow controllers, ultraclean gas panels, and vacuum measurement and control equipment.

ChemWest signs sales agent

Their sights set on the expanding market for process control gear, Mitsubishi International and ChemWest Systems have signed an agreement in which the giant Japanese distributor will act as a sales agent for the Oregon-based vendor. ChemWest manufactures automated wet process, parts cleaning, and chemical distribution equipment. The company says that sales have increased 74% since 1994. Mitsubishi International has 20 offices in the United States.

Voltaix enlarges plant

Voltaix, a supplier of specialty gases, is enlarging the manufacturing and R&D area at its plant in North Branch, NJ, by 70%. The renovation is set for completion by May 31. The vendor expects to benefit from the startup of three facilities that will manufacture large-scale amorphous silicon solar cells. Two of the plants are located in the United States; the other is in Japan. The fabrication process requires a gas mixture containing germane, which Voltaix says is one of its primary products. The vendor's product line also includes diborane, disilane, and related gases for CVD and ion implantation processes. Sales grew approximately 30% in 1996 over the previous year, according to Voltaix, despite the downturn in chip manufacturing in the second half of 1996.

Fuji-Hunt has a new name

Photoresist joint venture Fuji-Hunt Electronics Technology changed its name on April 1 to Fujifilm Olin Co. The joint venture partners--Fuji Photo Film and Olin--say they modified the corporate moniker to better reflect the ties to their respective parent companies. The partnership was established in 1983 between Fuji Photo Film and Philip A. Hunt Chemical, which later became part of Norwalk, CT-based Olin Corp.

Instrument firm attracts HP

Hewlett-Packard has signed an agreement to acquire Rockland Technologies Inc. (RTI), a manufacturer of high-performance liquid chromatography columns and packings with headquarters in Newport, DE. RTI will become part of HP's chemical analysis group. Formed in 1989 by former employees of DuPont, RTI makes the Zorbax line of HPLC columns and packings for analytical laboratories. The purchase enables the HP business unit to enlarge its family of chemistry-analysis instrumentation. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Software consortium gets help

Price Waterhouse has joined the TEOS Consortium, a semiconductor industry partnership that was established to perfect a software-based system for managing fab manufacturing processes. The addition of Price Waterhouse brings an expert in the use of project-management tools and software training on board. The software was developed by Tyecin Systems of Los Altos, CA, and the consortium takes its name from the computer program. In addition to Price Waterhouse and Tyecin, the members are Dallas Semiconductor, Level One Communications, Hewlett-Packard, Harris Semiconductor, and United Microelectronics Corp. Members are working to broaden the industry application of the IMPReSS release 2.0 enterprise planning system developed by Harris. TEOS software optimizes the use of the "supply chain" from wafer fabrication through testing, Tyecin says. Harris uses the system, which features advanced client-server architecture, at its fabs worldwide.

BOC building generator

BOC Gases is constructing a Spectra-N 3000 nitrogen generator for MEMC Electronic Materials' wafer manufacturing plant in St. Peters, MO. The New Jersey-based vendor will also supply trichlorosilane and bulk hydrogen chloride. MEMC is expanding capacity at the facility in order to reduce unit costs. Construction is scheduled for completion early this year. Ramp-up is set for June.

Petroferm buys solvent line

Petroferm has purchased the Re-Entry line of engineered solvents from Environmental Solvents (formerly Envirosolv) of Jacksonville, FL, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition expands Petroferm's product line of terpene-based replacements for ozone-depleting cleaning agents. The Fernandina Beach, FL-based vendor markets semiaqueous, CFC-free precision cleaning agents under the Bioact trademark.

Advance Tabco opens plant

Advance Tabco has opened its fifth facility for producing stainless-steel cleanroom furniture. The 50,000-sq-ft plant, which is located in Denmark, SC, will manufacture all of the company's product lines.

Tube firm grows

Eagle Stainless Tube was scheduled to open a 21,000-sq-ft addition last month at its manufacturing site in Franklin, MA. The expansion will more than double capacity, says the vendor, which makes stainless-steel, aluminum, and titanium tubing. The expansion is located adjacent to the supplier's original 17,000-sq-ft building. The company also says it will incorporate advanced manufacturing tools and a special software system to improve cost control and customer turnaround time. The workforce at the site is expected to grow more than 30%.