Advantest Acquires R&D Altanova

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Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire US based R&D Altanova, Inc.

R&D Altanova is a leading supplier of consumable test interface boards, substrates and interconnects for high-end applications, offering simulation, design, layout, fabrication and assembly of test interface boards which are used by testing equipment in the testing of advanced integrated circuits.

As process nodes continue to shrink, and device complexity grows, advanced capabilities of testing devices are becoming increasingly important to manufacturers of semiconductors for high-end applications, such as 5G, IoT and cloud computing. R&D Altanova has a long history of successfully innovating solutions for high-performance and high-density printed circuit boards to address the growing needs of advanced testing systems. In combination with Advantest’s test equipment, these solutions will provide enhanced end-to-end test solutions and bring advanced printed circuit board manufacturing capability to the Company.

Advantest President and CEO Yoshiaki Yoshida commented, "This acquisition is part of our medium- to long-term growth strategy to expand our test and measurement solutions across the continuously evolving semiconductor value chain. R&D Altanova's engineering and manufacturing capabilities, excellent customer base, and first-rate technical team will complement our semiconductor test equipment business. We hope to accelerate the growth of R&D Altanova's business by leveraging our global customer base and production process expertise. I am confident that our customers will be very interested in the high-precision, end-to-end test solutions we will be able to offer as a result of adding R&D Altanova products to our portfolio. To that end, we plan on expanding R&D Altanova’s manufacturing footprint in the US to meet an expected increase in demand by our US customers. In addition, R&D Altanova's business is directly linked to our goal of strengthening our recurring business, so I believe that the acquisition will also contribute to diversifying and stabilizing our earnings base.”

R&D Altanova, which is headquartered in South Plainfield, New Jersey, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advantest America, Inc., Advantest’s U.S. subsidiary. The closing of the transaction is tied to regulatory approvals, which we expect in the fourth calendar quarter of 2021.

The financial advisors on this acquisition were GCA Advisors, LLC, and the legal advisors were Stoel Rives LLP and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.