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JDS sells Cronos to French MEMS maker Memscap

By Peter Clarke Silicon Strategies
Aug 02, 2002 (1:04 AM)
URL: http://www.mwee.com/10805326

GRENOBLE, France -- Memscap SA, one of the pioneers of the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), has agreed to buy the Cronos business unit from JDS Uniphase Inc. As part of the agreement, JDS Uniphase is committing buy MEMS products exclusively from Memscap for at least three years following the close of the deal.

To finance the deal Memscap is printing an additional 10.5 million shares and issuing them to JDS Uniphase. This would value that part of the deal at about $7.7 million. There are plans to provide JDS Uniphase with a further 6.5 million shares if Cronos achieves certain revenue targets in the two and a half years after the deal closes.

The move represents a consolidation at the top of a crowded MEMS sector, which sees Memscap moving to become a world leader. Founded in 1997, The company received $13.2 million in start-up funding before raising a further $90 million through a well-timed listing on the Paris Euronext market in March 2001. The company has used the money for expansion and to build a MEMS foundry to process 6- and 8-inch silicon wafers in Bernin, France.

Under the terms of the deal JDS Uniphase has provided Memscap with initial purchase commitments for products and services. In return Memscap gains access to leading systems companies, as well as most of the active optical MEMS product vendors in the market today, the company said.

"This acquisition further enhances the company's foundation by reinforcing MEMSCAP's position as the world's leading MEMS company, and strengthens our presence in North America with a distinguished partner for the company's optical MEMS products," said Jean-Michel Karam, Memscap's president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Cronos is itself a pioneer of MEMS technology. It is widely known for its Multi-User MEMS Processes (MUMPS) foundry service, currently being expanded from polysilicon-based technology to metal and silicon-on-insulator. Cronos, originally a commercial spin-off of the Microelectronics Center North Carolina (MCNC), was acquired by JDS Uniphase in April 2000.

The Cronos acquisition will provide MEMSCAP with several active contracts and key customer relationships, a base of manufacturing equipment and an extensive intellectual property portfolio encompassing 27 existing patents and a further 27 patent applications, the company said.

"Through this relationship with Memscap, JDS Uniphase is assured of access to state-of the-art MEMS technology and a reliable and stable supply of MEMS-based optical products," said Karen Markus, vice president, technology strategy at JDS Uniphase in a statement

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