Advantest Completes Verigy Shares Acquisition

Advantest Corp. has announced that all the conditions for its acquisition of Verigy, including regulatory approval and the approval of Verigy’s shareholders, have been met. Advantest has consequently completed its acquisition of all outstanding Verigy ordinary shares for US$15.00 per share in cash. The total acquisition price is approximately US$1.1 billion.

Verigy will henceforth be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advantest. The integration process will transform the Advantest Group into the largest company in the semiconductor test equipment sector, with annual sales, based on last year’s figures, of $1.7 billion, a market share of over 40 percent, and 4,900 employees in 21 countries worldwide, including R&D centers in Japan, the U.S., and Europe.

Verigy’s origins in the test and measurement division of Hewlett-Packard, an American tech industry giant founded in 1939, have endowed it with a rich stock of cutting-edge solutions for semiconductor design verification and evaluation. By merging Verigy into its operations, the Advantest Group, which holds a dominant share in tools for memory test and volume production, has boosted its presence in the non-memory test and R&D markets where Verigy has traditionally been strong. Geographically, Advantest’s strong presence in Japan and Asia will now be combined with Verigy’s reach in North America and Europe, generating market share gains. The two companies’ complementary strengths in products, customer base, R&D, sales, and service will provide a significant lift to the combined company’s competitiveness in the global market.

To maximize these new synergies, Advantest has launched a new Strategic Business Unit which will take responsibility for reinforcing marketing efforts, technology integration, and offering optimal solutions to customers. Through the integration process, the new unit will devise detailed business strategies and implement them promptly.

As a leading company in the semiconductor test equipment industry, the Advantest Group will strive to deliver increased corporate value through further enhancement of technology, service, and customer satisfaction. Utilizing its expanded resources, the company will not limit itself to the semiconductor test equipment industry, but will move forward proactively into new markets including health care, environmental technologies, and energy.

Advantest

Verigy