Advantest Forms Strategic Partnerships with FormFactor and Technoprobe
Makes Small Minority Investments in Each Company to Advance Technology Development
TOKYO, Jan. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857) (“the Company”) announced that it has entered into small minority investments and partnership agreements with both Technoprobe SpA (“Technoprobe”) and FormFactor, Inc (“FormFactor”). Advantest is in discussions with, and will continue to evaluate investments in, additional probe card manufacturers as well as other critical semiconductor-industry supply chain companies.
Regarding the Technoprobe investment, Advantest acquired 2.5% of Technoprobe’s outstanding primary shares from T-Plus S.p.A, Technoprobe’s controlling shareholder, in an off-market transaction. Advantest will separately purchase a small minority equity position directly from FormFactor, although the amount is not disclosed. As part of both investments, Advantest has formed strategic partnerships with each that involve technology and printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing collaboration. Advantest will not be taking board seats or have any governance role at either FormFactor or Technoprobe.
As wafer-level test becomes an increasingly important component of production test insertion – especially for the testing of high-performance computing-related semiconductors – close collaboration between Advantest and the semiconductor supply chain has become critical to delivering high-performance total test solutions to Advantest customers. As the world’s leading automatic test equipment (ATE) supplier, Advantest has made investments in and formed partnerships with these leading probe-card makers to support the industry, to ensure its customers have access to multiple, viable probe-card suppliers, and to enable technical collaboration that results in high-performance, total testing solutions that meet customers’ future testing needs.
Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Advantest in both the Technoprobe and FormFactor transactions.
About Advantest Corporation
Advantest (TSE: 6857) is the leading manufacturer of automatic test and measurement equipment used in the design and production of semiconductors for applications including 5G communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, smart medical devices and more. Its leading-edge systems and products are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor production lines in the world. The company also conducts R&D to address emerging testing challenges applications, produces multi-vision metrology scanning electron microscopes essential to photomask manufacturing, and offers groundbreaking 3D imaging and analysis tools. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest is a global company with facilities around the world and an international commitment to sustainable practices and social responsibility. More information is available at www.advantest.com.
Advantest Corporation
3061 Zanker Road
San Jose, CA 95134, USA
Cassandra Koenig
cassandra.koenig@advantest.com
