Axcelis Evaluating Sumitomo Bid

Beverly, MA-based Axcelis, a maker of equipment for ion implantation, thermal curing, and other phases of semiconductor manufacturing—and one of the largest woman-led technology companies in Massachusetts—said in an announcement today that its board is reviewing an unsolicited takeover bid from Sumitomo Heavy Industries of Japan. It noted that the proposed takeover price of $5.20 per share or $544 million is 10 percent below Axcelis’s average closing price over the last 52 weeks. Sumitomo and Axcelis are the joint owners of Tokyo-based SEN Corporation, the leading manufacturer of ion implantation systems for Japanese semiconductor manufacturers, and have been locked in arbitration proceedings over SEN’s future direction.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/