Applied Completes HCT Acquisition

Staff -- Semiconductor International, 8/23/2007 7:45:00 AM

Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) announced that it has completed the acquisition of HCT Shaping Systems SA (Cheseaux, Switzerland), originally announced in late June, paying $438M for the privately held company.

HCT, a supplier of precision wafering systems for manufacturing crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates for the solar industry, is part of Applied’s thrust into equipment for manufacturing photovoltaic (PV) cells.

HCT is now part of Applied’s new Precision Wafering Systems division, operating under the Solar Business Group headed by Charles Gay. Stefan Schneeberger, who has been appointed vice president and general manager of Precision Wafering Systems, said in a statement, “We are excited to be part of Applied Materials. Our roadmaps are aligned with the goal of bringing new and advanced manufacturing technologies to reduce the cost of solar energy. Together, we will help customers to continuously reduce the grams of silicon needed per watt, while significantly improving their productivity.”

Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials, said, “HCT’s technology is critical to our roadmap, since it complements our high-throughput deposition systems, and will enable customers to scale up production and reduce costs.”