Transfer of Semiconductor Inspection Equipment Business

Shibaura Mechatronics Corporation (headquarters: Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture, President: Hiroo Okuhara) and Honda Electron Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President: Masayasu Ono) have reached agreement in principle on the transfer of Honda Electronics Co., Ltd.'s semiconductor inspection equipment business to Shibaura Mechatronics Corporation. The companies are now discussing the details of the transfer with the target of completing all required procedures by the end of June

Honda Electron's semiconductor inspection equipment business includes automatic wafer inspection equipment, automatic wafer edge inspection equipment, cassette shape checking equipment and wafer transfer equipment. All aspects of business, including manufacturing, sales, maintenance and service, will be transferred to Shibaura.

Yield has become the most important issue in semiconductor manufacturing, and there is growing demand for production equipment that supports larger wafer sizes and finer manufacturing processes. The market for semiconductor inspection equipment is driven by demands for higher levels of automation, quantifiability and higher throughput rates, and competition in product development is becoming increasingly fierce. Against this background, the two companies entered into talks on how best to overcome intense competition and further expand the semiconductor inspection equipment business, and finally agreed to the business transfer.

By taking over Honda Electron's semiconductor inspection equipment business, Shibaura's will seek to expand its semiconductor business and to strengthen its development capabilities and product competitiveness by merging Honda Electron's image processing technology with its own technologies. The transfer is expected to support business development, both in Japan and overseas, by enhancing Shibaura's ability to respond to customer needs and requirements.

Honda Electron sees the transfer as an opportunity to strengthen its management base by concentrating management resources on the information equipment business.

The two companies agreed to the transfer as both see it as offering an opportunity for management to promote profit enhancement.


The main content of the basic agreement
- Honda Electron's business operations in the manufacture, sales, maintenance and service of semiconductor inspection equipment will be transferred to Shibaura Mechatronics Corporation.
- Manufacturing will be concentrated at Shibaura Mechatronics Corporation's Yokohama Operations.