Equipment No.1 agrees to take over Metron
The acquisition is subject to regulatory and Metron shareholder approval and other closing conditions with closure expected in Applied Materials' FQ4.
Metron has more than 30 offices and several operating facilities in the USA, Europe, Israel and Asia. Metron's outsource solutions to fabs worldwide include supply of parts and materials, equipment maintenance, kitting and cleaning of process parts, refurbishment of legacy equipment, and distribution.
Applied Materials has been expanding its portfolio of service products to support chip manufacturers in recent months. The company has made deals to provide customer services for equipment and materials suppliers such as Brooks Automation, Praxair Electronics and Phoenix Silicon International.
Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials, comments: "This acquisition represents an important milestone in an ongoing series of strategic moves to service a larger market and expand our support capabilities beyond Applied Materials' tools."
The Metron businesses will become part of Applied Global Services and will develop and market products for Applied Materials' fab services programme, including support of non-Applied Materials systems.