SUSS MicroTec plan acquisition
SUSS MicroTec, a supplier of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry, has announced its intention to purchase PiXDRO, a division of Meyer Burger Deutschland GmbH. Both companies signed a corresponding agreement on 19 December 2019. The purchase price amounts to EUR 4.5 million in cash. Accordingly, SUSS MicroTec SE will take on the approximately 30 employees at the Eindhoven, Netherlands location. The transaction is expected to be complete by the end of February 2020.
With an annual revenue of around EUR 7 million, PiXDRO produces and distributes semi-automatic and fully-automatic devices for inkjet-based coating processes, which have been established on the market since 2004. While they have primarily been used in the area of research and development, printed circuit boards (PCB), and photovoltaics (PV), this additive, digital inkjet printing technology is also opening up a number of new possibilities in semiconductor technology. Through the acquisition of this company division, as well as its related patents, SUSS MicroTec is expanding its existing lithography product portfolio in the area of coaters/developers with the option of applying photoresists and dielectric layers using this new process.
"By purchasing this technology, SUSS MicroTec is again one step further on the path to meeting our growth strategy, SUSS 2025," explains Franz Richter, CEO and Chairman of the Board of SUSS MicroTec SE. "With PiXDRO, we are not only expanding our portfolio with a unique technology that is already established for many applications, our customers also profit from their many years of process and application expertise, which will enable us, in a short time, to provide innovative solutions for new areas in lithography."
Compared to other coating methods, this procedure applies almost 100% of the material used while also processing a high number of wafers. For SUSS customers, this means significant savings in the materials used as well as low cleaning and disposal costs, which translates to significant cost savings and a simultaneous reduction in environmental impact.
"Another unique advantage of the digital inkjet process is the direct, selective imaging by which only certain areas of a substrate can be printed on in a targeted manner or by which higher layer thicknesses can be produced at certain points rather than in other areas," explains Stefan Lutter, General Manager Bonder, Coater/Developer. "This is not possible with any of the other methods previously used in lithography and therefore opens up additional process and cost advantages."
The PiXDRO product portfolio includes semi-automatic devices for research and development as well as fully-automatic devices for use in high volume production. Moving forward, these systems will be serviced by the global SUSS sales and service team as well as selected partners from the areas of PCB and PV.
