Israeli company Camtek Ltd. (Nasdaq: CAMT; TASE:CAMT), which develops and manufactures inspection and metrology equipment for the chip industry, is expanding activities. The company announced that it has entered into an agreement for the acquisition from FormFactor Inc. of its metrology division FRT Metrology for $100 million in cash.
FRT, headquartered in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, supplies high-precision metrology solutions for the advanced packaging and silicon carbide markets. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Camtek said that the acquisition will leverage it and FRT’s advanced technologies of advanced packaging and silicon carbide, which requires new inspection and metrology steps in the semiconductor manufacturing processes. Camtek, with the addition of FRT’s unique hybrid multi-sensor SurfaceSens technology, says it will be able to provide customers with broader and more comprehensive solutions for inspection and metrology. FormFactor acquired FRT four years ago for €30 million.
Camtek CEO Rafi Amit said, "We expect this acquisition to solidify Camtek’s leading market position and contribute approximately 10% to the annual revenues in 2024 and be accretive within 12 months following the acquisition. Beyond the immediate financial contribution, we expect further synergies that will contribute to Camtek’s overall growth prospects in 2024 and beyond. We look forward to capturing a larger share of the unique growth opportunities ahead of us."
Camtek has benefitted from the positive trends in the semiconductor market over the past year with its share up 156% since the start of 2023. The company has a market cap of $2.526 billion. At the end of the second quarter of 2023, Camtek had $506 million in cash and a long-term debt of $196 million in convertible bonds, so it will be able to finance the FRT acquisition from its own funds.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 18, 2023.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.