Nov 7 2006
Applied Materials has announced that it has agreed to purchase the assets of Brooks Software, a division of Brooks Automation, Inc., for $125 million in cash. Brooks Software is a leading provider of factory management and control software to the semiconductor and flat panel display industries. Brooks Software’s products complement Applied Materials’ existing software applications and are expected to enable Applied to offer customers a comprehensive computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) solution for optimizing fab operations.
“Factory management software is essential to the efficient running of today’s advanced manufacturing facilities,” said Manfred Kerschbaum, senior vice president and general manager of Applied Global Services. “The combination of both companies’ software applications and Applied’s strong service capabilities will allow us to create a powerful, pre-integrated CIM solution that can be rapidly deployed and continuously supported across the entire lifecycle of a factory. This can be a very attractive alternative to the costly, highly-customized solutions currently available to customers.”
After the close of this transaction, the Brooks Software business and employees will be integrated within the Applied Global Services organization. Applied’s current factory control software portfolio includes its FAB300®, NeXus™ and WorkStream® products, which have been successfully developed with industry-leading customers and are being used in fabs around the world. The acquisition of Brooks Software will bring several new world-class applications to Applied, including the scheduling-dispatching, material control system (MCS) and advanced process control (APC) segments of the CIM environment, which are all critical to fab operational efficiency. The acquisition is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
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