Edwards Announces Sale of Kachina Division to Applied Materials
Wilmington, Mass., Aug 28 - BOC Edwards, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement under which Edwards will divest the majority of its parts cleaning and chamber process kit management division, Kachina, to Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) subject to a number of closing conditions.
Applied Materials will acquire the assets and operations of the Kachina parts cleaning hub facilities in Arizona, Texas and Oregon and on-site services at several key customer locations. Edwards will retain the operations in France and the UK.
Nigel Hunton, Chief Executive Officer, Edwards, said: "The sale of the Kachina parts cleaning business to Applied Materials will enable Edwards to focus resources on providing world leading products and services either side of the process tool and on the profitable growth of its core vacuum and abatement business."
In a separate transaction, Edwards has sold its shareholding interest in BOC Edwards HTC Ltd, to the other shareholder, Highlight Tech Corp. The business provides parts cleaning services in Taiwan.
Edwards is a leading global supplier of vacuum and abatement equipment and services to the world's most advanced industries, including semiconductor, flat panel display, chemical, metallurgical, analytical instrumentation and R&D. It supplies major customers in Asia, Europe and the Americas through a worldwide manufacturing and sales network. Turnover in 2006 was over $1bn.
About Edwards
Edwards (formerly BOC Edwards) is a leading supplier of integrated solutions for the manufacture of semiconductors, flat panel displays, LEDs and solar cells. It is also a world leader in vacuum technology for industrial, scientific, process and R&D applications. Edwards employs around 4,000 people globally in the design, manufacture and support of high technology vacuum and abatement equipment. Edwards invented the concept of the low-maintenance, cost-effective commercial oil-free 'dry' vacuum pump, and now supplements this with a wide range of other pumping technologies as well as related products and services.
Learn more at www.edwardsvacuum.com
About Applied Materials:
Applied Materials, Inc. is the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology(TM) solutions for the electronics industry with a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products. At Applied Materials, we apply Nanomanufacturing Technology to improve the way people live.
Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com
