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Following the acquisition, IQE says it will be the world’s leading supplier of antimony based IR materials, gaining significant new clients including major US defense contractors and other commercial customers in the IR imaging industry. Consistent with its multi-site manufacturing strategy, IQE will be able to provide IR materials from independent manufacturing facilities at Spokane, WA, and at IQE’s Wafer Technology operation in Milton Keynes, UK.
The acquisition will be immediately earnings enhancing. In the year ended 31 December 2009, Galaxy’s unaudited management accounting information indicated revenues of $3.0 million, earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (“EBITDA”) of $0.8 million, profit before taxation of $0.7million and net assets of $1.6 million as at 31 December 2009.
IQE will be retaining the Galaxy management team and key technical personnel following the acquisition.
IQE has agreed to acquire Galaxy for a consideration based on a multiple of up to 5.5 times Galaxy’s EBITDA for the year ended 31 December 2010, subject to a minimum consideration of $5.4 million and capped at a maximum total consideration of $14.15 million. The consideration will be settled in cash.
IQE is required to make quarterly payments to the vendors of Galaxy commencing on 31 December 2010 which in aggregate will total $2.5 million. A payment of the final consideration less a retention of approximately $0.6 million will be due for payment on 31 March 2012. The retained $0.6 million will be payable on 31 December 2012.
If the volume weighted average closing price of IQE shares is greater than or equal to 60 pence over a consecutive four week period, the payment terms of the final consideration will be accelerated, but will not be payable before July 2011.
IQE has today also announced a fundraising to raise £20.8 million (the “Placing”) via the placing of 65 million new ordinary shares of 1 pence in the Company (the “Placing Shares”) with institutional investors at a price of 32 pence per Placing Share (the “Placing Price”). The Placing is being carried out using the existing share authorities of the
Company.
Further details of the Placing are contained in a separate announcement. Funds raised will be used, inter alia, to satisfy consideration due to the vendors of Galaxy.
The Placing is conditional upon, inter alia, satisfaction of the placing agreement between Execution Noble and IQE and admission of the Placing Shares to AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange plc (“Admission”). Admission of the Placing Shares is expected to occur on 5 October 2010.
EVG Installs Wafer Cleaning System for Research at University of Tokyo
The EVG301 system will enable void-free wafer bonding of III-V compound semiconductor materials on silicon wafers with high-quality surface preparation.
EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, has received an order from the University of Tokyo.
Its EVG301 megasonic wafer cleaning system will be used for compound semiconductor research. Installed at the university’s Takagi & Takenaka Laboratory, the new tool is focused on preparing a particle-free wafer surface for bonding III-V materials, such as gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, and indium gallium arsenide, (GaAs, InP, and InGaAs), to silicon wafers.
The system augments the laboratory’s research focused on developing novel semiconductor transistors incorporating compound semiconductor materials for large-scale integrated (LSI) devices to overcome limitations introduced with scaling beyond the 22-nm node using traditional silicon.
“The miniaturization of semiconductor devices is reaching its physical limitations, and traditional scaling in line with Moore’s law is not sufficient enough to address future demands for higher
October 2010
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