21 April 2003 Irvine, CA Lightwave-- Supplier of automated manufacturing equipment Newport Corporation announced today that the company has invested $3.5 million to acquire 19.9% of NEXX Systems (Wilmington, MA), a privately owned developer and manufacturer of flip chip processing equipment for back-end semiconductor manufacturing.
Newport acquired a combination of common and preferred stock in the transaction as well as receiving other rights, including one seat on the company's board of directors. As part of the transaction, Newport will become the preferred provider to NEXX of certain components and subsystems, such as wafer handling robots and load ports. Newport and NEXX will also engage in collaborative development, integration, and marketing of their flip chip processing solutions.
Robert G. Deuster, president and chief executive officer of Newport Corporation, said, "NEXX provides very innovative and cost-effective platforms focused on several of the process steps in flip chip packaging, including wafer metallization, electroplating, photoresist deposition and stripping, and related technologies. NEXX is an excellent complementary fit with Micro Robotics Systems, which we acquired in February of 2002."
NEXX chairman and chief executive officer Richard Post added, "We are very pleased to partner with Newport and are confident this relationship will further our goal of becoming the leading process equipment company for flip chip and advanced packaging technology.
"NEXX has established itself as a key player in wafer-level packaging," continued Post. "We actively participate in two industry consortia. We are an industry affiliate at IMEC, where our Nimbus tool processes advanced substrates for system level packaging, including passive components. With SECAP, our Nimbus 300-mm tool has been installed as part of Unitive Semiconductor's 300-mm bump line in Taiwan. We have also established a strong position with key accounts (including Unitive, National Semiconductor, and Chipbond), now processing over 80,000 wafer starts per month on our Nimbus tool family. Our merger with All-Wet Technologies brings in additional key technology and management talent, expanding our ability to meet customers' requirements in wafer-level processing."
NEXX Systems designs, develops, and manufactures solutions for the semiconductor advanced packaging, telecommunications, and optoelectronics markets.