August Technology to acquire Semiconductor Technologies and Instruments

JUNE 3--August Technology Corporation (Minneapolis, MN; www.augusttech.com) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Semiconductor Technologies and Instruments Inc. (STI; Plano, TX), owned by ASTI Holdings Ltd. of Singapore. STI is a competitor in the automated microdefect-inspection-equipment market. The acquisition purchase price is approximately $26.1 million, consisting of $12 million cash, a $3 million six-month note to ASTI Holdings Ltd., and $11.1 million in stock.

Stated Jeff O'Dell, August Technology CEO, "This acquisition significantly enhances our ability to serve diverse and growing markets, including advanced packaging and wafer bumping. We are particularly interested in STI's strengths related to 2-D and 3-D inspection on the probe floor, an area of increasing importance as the industry drives toward known-good-die strategies for wafer-level packaging and system-in-package applications." The transaction also provides August Technology with an integrated tool combining die sorting with advanced automated inspection--a key final step in the trend toward fully automated final wafer manufacturing. In addition, STI's installed base adds key foundries in Taiwan and several prominent integrated device manufacturers in Europe and the United States to August Technology's broad customer list.

Rajiv Roy, STI's current president, will remain with the organization and lead the Texas operation.

The closing of the transaction is subject to approval by the shareholders of STI's parent company and other customary conditions and is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2002.