Omron to acquire assets in Epson subsidiary

Omron Corp. announced its preliminary agreement to acquire the semiconductor business assets of Seiko Epson's consolidated subsidiary, Yasu Semiconductor Corp. (YSC).

The acquisition of the business assets resulting from the preliminary agreement is aimed to further reinforce semiconductor operations, while strengthening the Omron group's line of semiconductor-equipped products. Omron's semiconductor-related sales for fiscal 2005 were $55.4 million.

According to Omron's announcement, both parties will now enter into detailed discussions, to conclude the final contract and complete the acquisition March 2007.

Assets of the YSC to be acquired includes the 42,000m semiconductor fab in Yasu, Shiga, Japan, which has facilities for manufacturing equipment in 8-inch CMOS line. YSC intellectual properties related to equipment operation will be included in the transaction. YSC was established in 2001 and has $84 million sales in the fiscal year ending March 2006.