Sumitomo Acquires Aviza

Sumitomo Precision Products Co. (SPP), a semiconductor technology company based in Japan, announced that it has acquired the majority of the assets of Aviza Technology Inc. effective Oct. 16. Aviza, headquartered in Scotts Valley, Calif., filed for Chapter 11 with the US bankruptcy court in June 2009. The acquisition includes Aviza’s single-wafer process equipment subsidiary Aviza Technology Ltd. (ATL); Aviza’s thermal products business; and Aviza’s global sales and service assets and personnel, with the exception of intellectual property related to atomic layer deposition systems and process. ATL and the other acquired assets will be merged with Surface Technology Systems (STS), SPP’s wholly owned subsidiary, under the corporate umbrella of SPP Process Technology Systems (SPTS). STS and ATL manufacture, sell and support advanced semiconductor capital equipment and process technologies for the global semiconductor industry and related markets. These systems are used in a variety of segments, such as data storage, MEMS and nanotechnology, advanced 3-D packaging and power integrated circuits for communications. ATL and STS will continue to operate separately during the integration process. A new business unit, Thermal Products Div., will be established in the US, with focus on supporting Aviza’s existing vertical furnace and atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition customers.