Tuesday, Ceradyne, Inc. (CRDN), a manufacturer and marketer of technical ceramic products, announced the completion of the acquisition of SemEquip, Inc., a developer of cluster ion implantation sub-systems and advanced ion source materials for the manufacture of logic and memory chips.
Ceradyne said the purchase price consists of $25 million in cash paid at closing, plus contingent consideration not to exceed $100 million over the next 15 years based upon SemEquip revenues achieved during that period. The Costa Mesa, California-based Ceradyne said it used a portion of its existing cash for the payment made at closing.
A portion of the consideration paid at closing and the contingent consideration to be paid over 15 years relates to a pre-closing commitment by SemEquip to pay incentive compensation to several of its employees and advisors.
Although this incentive compensation will not increase the total consideration Ceradyne will pay for the acquisition, it will require Ceradyne to record a pre-tax accounting charge estimated to be in the range of $9.0 million to $11.0 million in the third quarter of 2008.
The North Billerica, Massachusetts-based SemEquip has
significant intellectual property assets, including a patent portfolio of over 100 granted and pending patents related to the use of cluster chemicals in semiconductor ion implantation.
The company anticipates SemEquip's technologies to enable producing advanced integrated circuits at lower cost and increase throughput.
Ceradyne also said key SemEquip personnel would remain after the close.
CRDN closed Monday's regular trading session at $49.51.
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