Metron Technology To Acquire ChemTrace To Enhance Fab-wide Services

San Jose, CA -- Metron Technology, Inc. announced that it has agreed to purchase all of the outstanding shares of ChemTrace Corporation and ChemTrace Precision Cleaning, Inc. (collectively, ChemTrace), both privately-held companies, for an undisclosed cash amount. The acquisition will enhance Metron's capabilities to provide customers worldwide with high quality parts cleaning and materials testing solutions to support their integrated circuit manufacturing operations.

ChemTrace has developed a portfolio of optimized, technology-based methods to clean a wide range of ceramic, quartz, silicon and metal parts. ChemTrace's analytical testing services complement its cleaning services, providing high purity testing of materials for monitoring, contamination control and materials qualification.

"Repeatable and predictable cleaning, coating and refurbishment of components for process equipment is essential for minimizing defects during semiconductor manufacturing, enabling tighter process control and lowering overall cost of ownership," said Werner Finsterbusch, general manager of Metron Technology. "The acquisition of ChemTrace will enable Metron to serve customers in new markets and provide them with a consistent source of quality parts cleaning solutions. It will also expand our capability to create advanced cleaning processes as new components, materials and films are being developed in the industry. We believe this is an excellent opportunity for Metron and an important element of our fab-wide services solutions."

ChemTrace will be operated as part of Metron Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied Materials, Inc., extending Metron's global reach with additional service operations in Fremont, CA; Portland, OR; Austin, TX; and Hsinchu, Taiwan.

SOURCE: Applied Materials, Inc.