Rudolph Acquires NanoPhotonics

Rudolph Technologies Inc., a maker of process control metrology systems used in semiconductor device manufacturing, has acquired NanoPhotonics GmbH of Mainz, Germany, the company announced Thursday. The deal will strengthen its presence in the high-growth advanced packaging market, Rudolph said.

While specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, Rudolph said the all-cash transaction used less than 5 percent of its cash on hand, which totaled almost $174 million at the end of March 2012.

The acquisition "expands our product offerings into unpatterned wafer and mask blank inspection markets," said Rudolph Chairman and CEO Paul F. McLaughlin, and "enhances our capabilities in all-surface inspection, which we believe will be critical in meeting the emerging requirements in advanced packaging markets."

Such markets are demanding a greater number of chip-to-chip connections, which are provided by wafer-level packaging.

Products included in the acquisition are all-surface inspection systems (wafer edge, backside and front side) for 200-, 300- and 450-mm wafers, as well as mask-blank inspection systems.

Rudolph expects to quickly integrate the NanoPhotonics operations into its existing inspection business, McLaughlin said. The company will maintain and expand a technology center in Mainz as part of the integration.

This acquisition is one of several planned steps Rudolph is making to expand its portfolio and drive its long-term growth in both front- and back-end manufacturing, McLaughlin said.

Rudolph expects that the acquisition will be accretive within the first year and that it will add about $2 million per quarter to its revenue.

It will provide more information about the acquisition during its second-quarter earnings call on July 30, the company said.

For more information, visit: www.rudolphtech.com