ESI to Acquire Semiconductor Systems from GSI Group

Electro Scientific Industries Inc. is acquiring the Semiconductor Systems unit of precision photonics supplier GSI Group Inc., ESI announced Wednesday. The transaction will bring together two providers of systems for laser-based wafer processing.

GSI Group supplies precision photonics, laser-based products and precision motion devices to the medical, industrial, scientific and electronics markets. Based in Bedford, Mass., its Semiconductor Systems business provides products in laser marking and trimming of semiconductor wafers and hybrid circuits.

ESI supplies laser-based manufacturing solutions to the microtechnology industry. The sale will enable GSI to focus on its OEM component business, CEO John Roush said.

ESI said Semiconductor Systems' wafer marking products are positioned to capitalize on the industrywide transition to 450-mm wafer diameters and are complementary to its commitment to enabling 3-D semiconductor packaging.

"The business brings a strong technical team, broadens our revenue base with our semi customers and strengthens our semiconductor division," said ESI CEO Nick Konidaris. "With complementary capabilities but almost no product overlap, this acquisition broadens our product portfolio and allows ESI to provide a more complete set of laser-based manufacturing solutions to our semiconductor customers."

The acquisition, which is expected to close within 30 days, will add approximately $20 million to $30 million in revenue annually to ESI, which translates to another 5 cents to 10 cents per share in non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings in the first year.

For more information, visit: www.esi.com