Source: Content from Semiconductor Industry Observation

Recently, there have been several small mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor equipment industry.

Onto Innovation, a global supplier of process control and packaging lithography solutions for the semiconductor market, announced that it has acquired Lumina Instruments, Inc., located in Milpitas, California.

Dr. Mike Rosa, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Onto Innovation, said: "We are pleased to announce the 'acquisition' of Lumina Instruments, which will enhance Onto Innovation's inspection portfolio by adding its highly differentiated laser scattering technology. This technology will expand the addressable market we serve by more than $250 million, including opportunities in wafer and panel manufacturing and power semiconductors. With this technology, we can extend defect sensitivity from 750nm to sub-100nm while maintaining industry-leading throughput, and it also complements our Firefly inspection system for panel packaging applications."

As panel-level packaging applications transition to glass, the opportunities to detect surface and sub-surface defects and contamination continue to increase. At the same time, the silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) wafer power markets continue to grow, with process control challenges increasing during manufacturing as wafer sizes move from 150mm to 200mm and 200mm to 300mm, respectively.

Dr. Steven Meeks, former CTO and President of Lumina Instruments, said, "We are looking for the next phase of growth in our technology across a range of applications, from advanced packaging to compound semiconductor power. Onto Innovation impressed us with its strong channel to market and focus on product synergies. In addition, their commitment to empowering small, efficient teams and their vision for new growth areas such as panel-level processing impressed our team."

Onto Innovation also acquired the lithography business from Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., gaining 24 issued patents, 8 pending patents, and over 200 man-years of semiconductor lithography and wafer applications experience. With strong hardware and software technologies, differentiated patents, and unique metrology and lithography performance designs, the team will accelerate and expand the JetStep panel lithography roadmap.

The acquisitions are expected to generate up to $100 million in annual revenue over the next three years and be accretive to earnings within 12 months.

Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Merck Electronics Completes Acquisition of Unity SC

Merck Korea announced on the 4th that it has completed the acquisition of "Unity SC", which was announced in July for 155 million euros (about 232.3 billion won).

Kai Beckman, CEO of Merck Electronics, said: "With the acquisition of our optoelectronics business and Unity SC, we have significantly expanded our product portfolio, including the addition of measurement solutions for semiconductor and optoelectronic product manufacturing," which means the integration of materials science and supply. Merck's capabilities have been expanded in the electronics ecosystem, where measurement and detection organically interact to improve the efficiency and stability of next-generation chip and device production. "

Acquisition of Unity SC is a very important process to strengthen and complement Merck's expertise in optical technology. Merck's Display Solutions division will operate under the name "Optronics" from 2025, symbolizing the expansion of its main business capabilities by harnessing the innovative power of light to revolutionize the ecosystem of electronic devices and systems.

The name Optronics refers to the evolution from the existing display-centric business to cutting-edge optical technology in the electronics field. In the future, Merck's electronics business will develop optics and semiconductors based on the deep expertise in optical physics accumulated through LCD and OLED displays. We plan to lead the convergence and meet the needs of next-generation technologies.

Merck has developed a new generation of optical materials systems from optical materials to optical materials systems. Unity Technologies has strong capabilities and expertise in areas such as semiconductor device components, developing semiconductor chips based on optical technology, which is at the heart of next-generation computing technology that can only be achieved through light-based data lines, and plans to discover business opportunities in other areas through its optoelectronics division.

The development of advanced liquid crystal (LC) and OLED materials, which will play an important role in future optoelectronic solutions in the fields of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR), remains an important part of Merck's product portfolio. Merck plans to address key core technologies in the future electronics field and create unparalleled synergies by combining professional optoelectronic engineering and semiconductor knowledge with cutting-edge measurement technology.

Unity Technologies has a strong capability and expertise in areas such as semiconductor device components, developing semiconductor chips based on optical technology, which is at the heart of next-generation computing technology that can only be achieved through light-based data lines, and plans to discover business opportunities in other areas through its optoelectronics division.

The development of advanced liquid crystal (LC) and OLED materials, which will play an important role in future optoelectronic solutions in the fields of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR), remains an important part of Merck's product portfolio. Merck plans to address key core technologies in the future electronics field and create unparalleled synergies by combining professional optoelectronic engineering and semiconductor knowledge with cutting-edge measurement technology.

UnitySC is a provider of measurement and inspection solutions that improve the quality, yield and manufacturing costs of heterogeneously integrated semiconductor systems for applications related to artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). In this regard, UnitySC's high-precision measurement and inspection equipment is expected to enable high-performance chip manufacturing in the most technically demanding applications such as AI data centers, autonomous vehicles and electronic devices such as smartphones.

The acquisition of UnitySC was completed after regulatory approval and satisfaction of the acquisition closing conditions. UnitySC is a company headquartered in Montbonnot-Saint-Martin near Grenoble, France, with approximately 160 employees, 70 of whom are in R&D positions.

After this acquisition, UnitySC employees will join Merck's Electronics business unit, which has approximately 8,000 employees, share Merck's values and complete Merck's broad product portfolio in the semiconductor industry.

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