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July 6, 2004...Jumping on the "nanotechnology" deposition bandwagon (which compound
semi industry MOCVD and MBE companies essentially created), Aixtron
AG of Aachen, Germany has announced
it is "merging" with a USA atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment
company named Genus, Inc.,
which is based in Sunnyvale, California. Genus trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange
under the symbol "GGNS"
and after the merger is approved, Aixtron stockholders will own approximately
74% of the combined company, Genus shareholders the remaining 26%. The stock-for-stock
transaction is valued at approximately $143.2 million (€117.7 million)
based on current stock values. Plans are for Aixtron to acquire all outstanding
Genus shares and Genus shareholders will receive 0.51 American Depository Receipts
(ADRs) of Aixtron in exchange for each Genus common share which, if approved,
will essentially put Aixtron shares on the Nasdaq exchange. While the word "acquisition"
was not used, Reuters
referred to the deal as just that, saying Genus would become a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Aixtron. According to the SEC
filings by Genus, two key points of the merger are: 1) approval for Aixtron shares
to be listed on the Nasdaq, and 2) that the two companies would jointly design
and develop a hybrid ALD/AVD multiwafer product.
Combined, the two employ over 550 people worldwide. “Both companies
have more than 20 years of experience in the semiconductor equipment business
and are an ideal fit. The semiconductor industry increasingly requires new complex
material solutions which we offer“, said Paul Hyland, President and
CEO of Aixtron. “The combined company will leverage Aixtron's know-how
in complex material deposition and Genus’ strength in new semiconductor
deposition technologies for such materials. We are thereby well positioned for
the next investment cycle in the semiconductor industry, and to benefit from
a strong position in this global industry, which enables further growth.“
Genus’ Chairman and CEO William W. R. Elder said: “Our products
are highly complementary. The merger will strengthen our balance sheet and in
the medium term the cooperation in research and development should enable the
realization of synergies in the development and production of our products as
well as additional revenue benefits”. The two companies reported total
2003 revenues of approximately €142 million ($160 million), a combined
gross profit of approximately €32 million ($36 million) and cash and cash
equivalents of approximately €78 million ($99 million). Paul Hyland will
remain President and CEO of Aixtron. Mr. Elder will join the Aixtron Management
Board. It is presumed that, like other Aixtron subsidiaries such as Thomas Swan,
that Genus will maintain its own name and individual corporate and brand identity,
although such was not stated in the announcement.
And while there was also no mention of other Aixtron subsidiaries and other
ventures, it is not yet clear whether the merger will equate to Genus shareholders
owning proportionate percentages of those entities or if Genus will be treated
as a wholly owned subsidiary of Aixtron as Thomas Swan is. For sure, Genus will
now be part of what our community knows as "The Aixtron Group."
Whereas our compound semi community is well-acquainted with Aixtron's offerings,
Genus is a new name to our ranks, and appears to focus more on deposition processing
products for the advanced silicon-based data storage industry with its LYNX
and StrataGem series equipment for 200mm and 300mm silicon semiconductor
production, and offering thin film deposition products for chemical vapor deposition
(CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and pre-clean capabilities. The company
is regarded at the forefront of market and technology developments in the ALD
marketplace, which some feel is a fresh buzzword for what the compounds have
been doing for some time. Genus appears targeted at the sub 0.13-micron production
of silicon chips and storage devices. With Aixtron taking such a large ownership
role in this merged entity, and given Aixtron's other compound semi-related
concerns, the scales might become more balanced between Aixtron and its closest
global MOCVD competitor, Veeco (a strong
supplier of varied equipment to the silicon industry), which entered the
compound semi MOCVD market with the purchase of Emcore's TurboDisc MOCVD
division. Veeco also owns the former Applied Epi, a longtime provider of compound
semi MBE equipment and remains the only company to provide both MOCVD and MBE.
Aixtron has long been peripherally involved in the silicon industry with their
oxide machines.
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French Team to Establish New III-V Industrial Research LabJuly 6, 2004...Two French firms, Thales and Alcatel, are teaming to create a joint industrial
research lab on optoelectronics and microelectronics, employing approximately
100 people. The new la will be called "The Alcatel-Thales III-V Lab"
and will be targeting targeting applications in telecommunications, defense,
space and security. A consortium called Groupement d'Interêt Economique,
which will be equally owned by Thales and Alcatel, will manage the Alcatel-Thales
III-V Lab and the stated main objective is "to develop strategic technologies
to guarantee competitiveness and autonomy of both companies; anticipate scientific
and technical advances and their impact on future systems; establish scientific
and industrial partnerships; industrial transfer to parent companies, industrial
partners or high-tech small and medium enterprises." Niel Ransom, Alcatel's
Chief Technology Officer said, "The gathering of these two research
units offers great synergy opportunities regarding research infrastructures
and tools. It also presents excellent complementarities at the staff skill level.
Alcatel is the world leader in optical systems for telecommunications. It is
essential for our future to preserve the mastery of technologies to be embedded
in our future systems." Dominique Vernay, Thales's Chief Technology
Officer, added, "This joint lab embodies our partnership research policy,
to realize a dual technology platform and to develop specific components designed
for our needs. For Thales, the strategic dimension of the research topics encompassed
by the lab is an assurance of its success." Details are in the Company
news release Scottish Startup Kamelian Declares BankruptcyJuly 5, 2004...Yet another promising UK company and yet another InP-based endeavor has fallen
victim to the remnants of the telecom downturn. According to the London Gazette
listings of corporate insolvency, June
22 notice, Kamelian Limited which went from its current home in Oxfordshire, UK to Glasgow,
Scotland, and then back to Oxfordshire, has declared the UK's version of bankruptcy and the company will
now be in the hands of administrative receivers. A profile
of Kamelian is accessible on the LightReading site, posted September
2000 when it was noted as a promising startup. As LightReading then described
them, Kamelian focused on the development of "so-called hybrid photonic
semiconductors, comprising two or more chips that are stuck together to create
an optical component. They produced active devices of InP and bonded them to
passive devices. For the benefit of creditors to whom monies are due, and to
those potentially interested in mining the assets of Kamelian, the Receivership
Notice code number is 2421, the original name of the company was Buyworld Limited,
the date the joint administrative receivers were appointed was 17 June 2004
and the receivers are Graham Paul Bushby, in Milton Keynes and Mandy Jane Smart
in Chelmsford, Essex UK. Full contact details
for the receivers are in the Gazette notice.
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Progress Report on the Quest for a Blue Spectrum DVD StandardJuly 5, 2004...As Chuck Swoboda, the President and CEO of Cree Inc. of Durham, North Carolina
USA once put it, "The blue laser standard will be decided by Hollywood..."
meaning that the squabbles over whether Blu-ray DVDs or the NEC Toshiba
solutions will triumph aren't that much of an issue in these early days of initial
product rollout. The most sought-after major customers are film-production companies
in Hollywood and other major cinema creation capitals. What that high end market
actually adopts in the end is where the game will be decided. But how the leading
systems integrators are doing when it comes to trying to force a standard through
remains newsworthy.
The latest analysis came via Nikkei in an analysis titled Rivalry
Over Next DVD Format Moving Into Market (subscription required). According
to the roundup, Matsushita and Sony and their allies will release the first
Blu-ray DVD recorders in late July, challenging the camp led by Toshiba, which
established the current DVD format and is now calling their version of the "standard"
simply "HD DVD". Not as glamorous, but straightforward. Matsushita's
production goals are for only 2,000 units per month priced at about 300,000
yen each, but the image is key given the recorders are being billed at the top
of Matsushita Panasonic "DIGA" line, which accounts for about 40%
of the DVD recorder market in Japan, which will likely raise name recognition
for the Blu-ray camp.
Historically in video format struggles, the more recording time offered, the
more the buyers like it. That premise is supported by Sony Managing Director
Kiyoshi Nishitani, who supposedly was the one that convinced Nichia to open
their patent to Sony. Other name systems integrators who have signed on to the
Big Blu Team include Hitachi, Samsung, Dell Computer, and Hewlett Packard. Co.
have signed on to Blu-ray. But as we all know, people who sign up for one team,
can switch... or be traded, easily if another offer looks more promising. It's
a fickle market and always will be.
Sirenza Scores RF Patent for Improved Signal ClarityJuly 5, 2004...RF component designer/supplier Sirenza Microdevices of Broomfield, Colorado
USA has been awarded US patent number 6,750,717
entitled Peaking Control for Wideband Laser Driver Applications. The
inventors were Kevin Kobayashi and George McIver, both of Southern California,
who originally filed their patent in Aug. 2002 and it was issued June 15th.
According to Sirenza, this USA patent is one of several awarded to Sirenza in
the area of broadband amplifier ICs and discloses an approach for equalizing
the wideband performance of a fiber optic transmitter intended for high data
rate communications. "At high data rates, direct modulated fiber optic
transmitter applications typically experience signal distortion due to laser
diode non-linearity; consequently low cost packaging is often problematic. This
patent provides an electronic means that can restore signal clarity in these
applications," stated Kevin Kobayashi, Sirenza's Director of Advanced
Design and co-inventor. "Because of the electronic or IC-based nature
of this patent, it may be applicable to other wideband systems such as instrumentation
and cable distribution applications." Joe Johnson, Sirenza's CTO added,
"Sirenza is focused on providing innovative solutions for front-end
and wideband applications where leading edge performance is important; we will
continue to push the state-of- the-art in these challenging end-markets."
Company
news release University of Leeds Focuses on Terahertz Research with Oxford Instruments MBE SystemJuly 5, 2004...Two University of Leeds professors, Edmund Linfield and Giles Davies, in the
Electronic and Photonic Engineering Department
at that prestigious UK university have selected a V80H MBE instrument from Oxford
Instruments for their research work on terahertz optoelectronics. The new system
will be used to grow complex heterostructure devices that are under research
in the recently completed state-of-the-art 160 square meter photonics laboratory
where Dr. Linfield will assume a Chair in August. The team's initial research
will focus on growth of mid-infrared and terahertz quantum cascade lasers in
the GaAs-AlGaAs materials system, following the pioneering work previously undertaken
on developing the first terahertz quantum cascade lasers on a V80H system in
Cambridge (through the EC Framework V 'WANTED' program coordinated by Professors
Linfield and Davies). In the future, the new system will also be used for the
growth of other III-V materials. The sale viewed by the vendor, Oxford Instruments,
as a sign of confidence in Oxford which is continuing the time-honored tradition
of quality and service associated with VG Semicon, which was acquired
by Oxford Instruments from Thermo Electron in October of 2003. Company
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