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EXPANSIONS AND ACQUISITIONS

Olin, Matheson combine services

Client demand was the main reason that Olin Microelectronic Materials and Matheson Semi-Gas Systems signed their recent deal to combine their respective chemical and gas management services in one package.

"Customers [told us] they were looking for one company to offer both gases and chemicals management," explained Hulon Robertson, vice president of technical sales support and Bay Area sales for Matheson. The agreement calls for Olin and Matheson to manage virtually all aspects of fab chemical and gas supply. The services include inventory management, analytical monitoring, sampling, JIT delivery, and ensuring materials purity at the point of use.

In an interview at Semicon West 98 in July, Robertson said Matheson "actively started to search for partners" after hearing from customers. Four key factors entered into the search, he explained. The firm was looking for a company having global reach with strong local management ability, a good reputation in the industry, expertise in its field, and a willingness to collaborate.

Hayes Anderson, Olin's business director, said "comfort level" was one of the factors influencing the chemical vendor's decision to partner with Matheson. "The relationship has to be invisible to the customers." The two suppliers have "several customers from both Olin's and Matheson's customer base," added Anderson, who took part in the same interview. "The overlap of key customers was amazing." He asserted the partnership will enable chipmakers to benefit from economies of scale and allow them to focus their attention on making semiconductors.

In related news, Olin and Wacker Silicones announced an agreement to produce and sell CMP slurries. They also plan to provide slurry-waste management services. Wacker will manufacture the slurries at its CMP laboratory in Adrian, MI. The company makes interlevel dielectric layer, shallow-trench isolation, and polysilicon slurries, with tungsten and copper slurries in development.

Meanwhile, the Olin corporate board of directors approved a decision to make the supplier's specialty chemicals businesses a separate, publicly held company. The independent firm will combine Olin's microelectronic materials, pool chemicals, sulfuric acid, hydrazine, and performance urethanes businesses. These units had 1997 sales of approximately $950 million, nearly 40% of Olin's total sales for the year. Olin says the transaction will be completed during the first quarter of 1999. Michael Campbell, executive vice president in charge of operations, will become CEO of the spin-off, which has yet to be named.

Chem pact expands services

Two major suppliers have formed an alliance they claim will give chipmakers one-stop access to a comprehensive range of high-purity process chemicals and extensive management services. The agreement calls for the specialty chemicals unit of AlliedSignal to exclusively manufacture and market a line of process chemicals for Air Products Electronic Chemicals (APEC). This new unit of Air Products and Chemicals will sell the AlliedSignal products to chipmakers. APEC will also manage distribution of the chemicals at fab sites under its parent company's MegaSys total chemicals management program.

The pact marks Air Products' attempt to make its new Carlsbad, CA­based subsidiary into a full-service supplier and distributor of wet process chemicals and services. The alliance will enable AlliedSignal to tap into Air Products' network of operations in 30 countries. David Mitchell, recently named president of APEC, said the partnership complements Air Products' manufacturing capabilities and lowers the cost of ownership for its chemicals clients. Air Products makes UHP chemicals for CVD dielectrics and metals as well as ion implantation and oxidation processes.

With a plant in Seelze, Germany, AlliedSignal has a strong presence in the European market. The supplier will manufacture chemicals for APEC at facilities in Seelze; Muskegon, MI; and Geismar, LA. Its product line includes ultrapure acids, bases, solvents, and etchants. The company says it is the world's largest producer of hydrofluoric acid and fluorinated derivatives. Air Products will oversee all on-site chemicals management, including maintenance and operation of all blending and delivery systems.

Canon building new HQ

Canon U.S.A. has chosen a San Jose site to build a new headquarters for its semiconductor equipment division. The 172,000-sq-ft facility will be used for process development, product demonstrations, and training support for U.S.-based chipmakers. The site also will house Canon's northern California operations. The facility will contain a cleanroom housing photoresist track systems and metrology tools as well as a demonstration area for deep-UV steppers and scanners. Completion is scheduled for the second quarter of 1999.

Lab targets yield needs

Heuristic Physics Laboratories (HPL) of Milpitas, CA, sold two test equipment divisions in June in order to "refocus" the company on its yield enhancement tools business unit. Credence Systems purchased HPL's automatic test equipment and Design for Testability divisions for an undisclosed sum. HPL says the reconfigured company will be better able to tap into a potential annual market of approximately $500 million for yield enhancement software. David Lepejian, president and CEO, notes that yield problems are caused by more than just process defects and says its software can analyze data "from circuit design through front-end and back-end manufacturing." HPL introduced its HyperView analysis, monitoring, and enhancement software system in 1997.

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