Veeco Instruments to merge with FEI Company
FEI stockholders will receive 1.355 shares of Veeco common stock for each share of FEI they own, making a total of approximately 44 million Veeco FEI shares with a current value of approximately $1 billion*. The merger is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2002 following approval of each company s stockholders and customary closing conditions.
Veeco, with 2001 revenues of $449 million, manufactures process equipment and metrology tools for the telecommunications, wireless, data storage, semiconductor and research markets. The company has acquired at least 10 technology businesses in the last five years, including CVC and Digital Instruments. In September 2001, Veeco acquired Applied Epi, a leading manufacturer of MBE equipment. Manufacturing and engineering facilities are located in New York, California, Colorado, Arizona and Minnesota.
FEI, with 2001 revenues of $376 million, manufactures dual-beam and single-column focused ion and electron beam products for three-dimensional metrology, device editing, trimming, and structural analysis for management of sub-micron structures. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, FEI has additional development and manufacturing operations located in Peabody, MA; Sunnyvale, CA; Eindhoven, The Netherlands; and Brno, Czech Republic.
Veeco FEI s corporate headquarters will be located in Woodbury, NY, the current Veeco headquarters, and FEI s current headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon will remain a significant facility for Veeco FEI as a center of research and development and manufacturing. Veeco FEI will have approximately 2,900 employees at its key facilities in North America, Europe, Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
Vahe Sarkissian, FEI s chairman, president and CEO, will become Chairman of the Board and Chief Strategy Officer of Veeco FEI, while Edward Braun, Veeco s chairman, president and CEO, will remain CEO and president.
"The combination of Veeco and FEI creates a leading metrology and process equipment company, providing solutions for growth opportunities in semiconductor, data storage, telecom/wireless and scientific research markets," said Braun. "Based on combined 2001 sales of $825 million, together we become the sixth largest US semiconductor equipment company and the third largest US supplier of metrology equipment.
"We believe this merger has compelling strategic value," added Sarkissian. " We intend to leverage our enriched technology portfolio to accelerate growth by delivering broader product offerings and building new markets. The new Veeco FEI will be far better positioned to capitalize on the economic upturn, with a combined management team that has a proven track record of building companies with strong revenue and profit growth."
* The figure of $1 billion was based on Veeco s closing price on Thursday July 11. The next day, Veeco s shares fell by almost 20% to $18.05, changing the value of the deal to around $794 million.
