Rudolph Technologies,
Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEC), a leading provider of process characterization equipment
and software for wafer fabs and advanced packaging facilities, announced today
that it has acquired Adventa Control Technologies, Inc., Plano, Texas. Adventa
provides a wide range of Advanced Process Control (APC) technologies to semiconductor
manufacturers specifically for tool automation, run-to-run control, and fault
detection and classification.
“We are excited about taking advantage of this opportunity to significantly
expand our process control software portfolio with the complementary products
from Adventa,” said Paul F. McLaughlin, chairman and chief executive officer
of Rudolph. “Much like Rudolph, Adventa has an established and respected
presence in the industry, with an estimated 18,000+ systems in use today.”
“By leveraging Rudolph’s worldwide sales and support organization,
we will be able to introduce Adventa solutions to markets that had previously
been left untapped, thus delivering a paradigmatic growth opportunity for these
products, and making Rudolph a more significant supplier to our customers,”
McLaughlin concluded.
“Adventa’s experience in providing competitive advanced process
control solutions while maintaining profitability was a key reason for pursuing
this acquisition,” said Mike Plisinski, vice president and general manager
of Rudolph’s Data Analysis and Review Business Unit. “The duration
of the current down cycle in our industry has resulted in manufacturers needing
to reduce the use of internal resources but at the same time improve factory
profitability through the implementation of enhanced process control and automated
analysis solutions. Adventa has been delivering unique solutions to device manufacturers
for over 11 years. Their employees average over 15 years of experience in the
development and deployment of enterprise level process control solutions. When
combined with our expertise in process analysis software, we are well-positioned
to meet the growing demand from customers for a single, financially stable,
supplier of both process control and analysis technologies which can easily
integrate into their existing IT infrastructure.”
Terms of the cash transaction were not disclosed, however, Rudolph projects
that revenues from the Adventa acquisition will be accretive in the first year
and should more than double the revenues of the Data Analysis and Review Business
Unit. According to Gartner Dataquest, this would make Rudolph the No. 2 supplier
of process control software solutions for device manufacturers.
“As the semiconductor industry continues to evolve and the technologies
become more complex, process control software will continue to play a critical
role in the fab,” Plisinski continued. “We believe our customers
see a distinct advantage in working with a profitable, global partner such as
Rudolph who has clearly demonstrated the commitment and resources for next-generation
process solutions. “
Rudolph is unique in providing a total process control solution to both front-end
fabs, back-end packaging facilities as well as the rapidly maturing photovoltaic
market. The company’s process control software systems evaluate the overall
performance of the entire manufacturing process, resulting in the opportunity
for lower operating costs as well as faster and better automated decision making
through a tighter integration of process control technologies and process analysis
solutions.
Details of the transaction will be covered in Rudolph’s next earnings
call scheduled for August 6 at 4:45pm EDT.