Advantest to Buy Verigy for $1.1 Billion, Become Top Chip Tester
March 28, 2011, 8:13 AM EDTBy Mariko Yasu
March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Advantest Corp., the world’s second-largest maker of semiconductor-testing equipment, agreed to buy Verigy Ltd. for $1.1 billion in the company’s biggest acquisition.
Advantest will acquire all shares of the Singapore-based company at $15 a share, the Tokyo-based equipment maker said in a statement today. The all-cash offer is subject to Verigy shareholders’ approval, it said.
The acquisition will make Advantest the world’s biggest manufacturer of equipment for testing semiconductors, overtaking North Reading, Massachusetts-based Teradyne Inc. Shares of Verigy, which had sought a friendly merger with LTX-Credence Corp. in November, have gained 60 percent in the past four months, as the Japanese company raised its unsolicited takeover- bid from $12.15 a share.
Verigy specializes in testing machines for non-memory chips, supplementing Advantest’s expertise, the statement said. Advantest will also strengthen its global operations through the acquisition, it said.
Advantest fell 1.3 percent to close at 2,600 yen in Tokyo trading today. Verigy rose 0.2 percent to close at $14.18 on the Nasdaq Stock Market on March 25.
--With assistance from Go Onomitsu in Tokyo. Editors: Young-Sam Cho, Anand Krishnamoorthy
To contact the reporter on this story: Mariko Yasu in Tokyo at myasu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net
