Aixtron

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Aixtron

logo
legal form Societas Europaea
ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6
founding 1983
Seat Herzogenrath , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Bernd Schulte
Felix J. Grawert ( Board member )
Number of employees 688 (2019)
sales EUR 259.6 million (2019)
Branch Mechanical engineering , semiconductor technology
Website aixtron.com
As of December 31, 2019

The Aixtron SE (self spelling: AIXTRON) is a German electrical engineering company based in Herzogenrath , the equipment for the production of compound semiconductors and nanomaterials produced.

The company's shares are traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. AIXTRON is part of both the TecDax and the MDAX .

history

Beginnings

The company was founded in 1983 in Aachen as an offshoot of RWTH Aachen University , founded by the physicist Holger Jürgensen. Initially specializing in systems for the production of III-V semiconductors such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium phosphide (InP), the product range was expanded in the early 1990s to include systems for the production of gallium nitride (GaN) suitable for high temperatures .

In November 1997, Aixtron AG went public in the Neuer Markt segment in Frankfurt. The listing on the US technology exchange NASDAQ took place in March 2005 and ended on December 30, 2016.

There were numerous takeovers such as that of the British competitor in the III-V market Thomas-Swan Scientific Equipment Ltd. in 1999 . and the Swedish Epigress AB in the same year and in 2005 the US-American Genus Inc. for 118 million euros. In 2007 Aixtron bought the British Nanoinstruments Ltd. As a result of the takeovers, the company expanded its range of plant types and material systems, and in particular plants for the silicon industry .

Takeover attempt in 2016

After years of losses, Aixtron put itself up for sale at the end of March 2016. In May 2016, Aixtron agreed to a takeover offer from the Chinese Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (FGC) amounting to 676 million euros. This is 51% from the investor Zhendong Liu and 49% via Zhongyao Wang and Wanming Huang from the company Xiamen Bohao Investment Ltd. , which in turn is indirectly owned by the local government in Xiamen . Xiamen investor Liu wanted to co-finance the offer through Liu Sino IC Leasing , whose capital comes from various companies (including San'an Optoelectronics , a key Aixtron customer), banks, state funds and private investors. The management board and the supervisory board recommended that the shareholders accept the offer.

In October 2016, the Federal Ministry of Economics withdrew its clearance certificate issued on September 8, 2016 and announced the resumption of the investment review in accordance with the Foreign Trade Act / Ordinance on Foreign Trade . In November 2016, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) referred the case to US President Barack Obama , who vetoed the sale of the US subsidiary for a decision due to national security concerns . The Grand chip investment then announced on 8 December 2016 that the takeover bid was a total extinguished.

Development since 2017

At the end of 2017, Aixtron sold its ALD / CVD product line to Eugene Technology, Inc., a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Eugene Technology Co., Ltd (South Korea). The business with OVPD systems for OLED production was spun off to the subsidiary APEVA on October 1, 2017. As part of a joint venture, the South Korean automation specialist IRUJA acquired a minority stake in APEVA in October 2018.

Aixtron achieved sales of EUR 259.6 million in the 2019 financial year with 688 employees, of which 68% came from Asia, 16% from Europe and 16% from the United States .

competition

Aixtron mainly produces MOCVD systems for the production of compound semiconductors and is currently the world market leader in this market. The market research institute Gartner Dataquest estimated in a study ( Market Share: Semiconductor Wafer Fab Equipment, Worldwide, April 2019 ) that Aixtron's market share in the global market for MOCVD systems in 2018 was around 46% (total market size 2018: USD 553 million) Market share of the main competitor Veeco Instruments, Inc. (USA) in the same period to 27% and that of the Chinese AMEC to 24%.

Other competitors besides Veeco and AMEC are Taiyo Nippon Sanso (Japan), Tokyo Elektron Ltd. (Japan), Tang Optoelectronics Equipment Corporation LTd. (China) and LPE (Italy).

Technology and products

Aixtron's product range includes customer-specific systems for the deposition of complex semiconductor materials. Here, substrates of different materials and sizes can be coated.

Vapor deposition of compound semiconductor materials for the production of power and opto-electronic components such as LED , lasers , other optoelectronic components, or power electronics which is MOCVD applied method. The PECVD process is used to manufacture complex carbon nanostructures (carbon nanotubes and wires or graphene ) .

The subsidiary APEVA offers the OVPD (organic vapor deposition) process for the deposition of thin-film materials for the production of organic electronic applications , including organic light-emitting diodes ( OLED ) .

Most of the company's systems operate on the showerhead or planetary principle and are supplied for wafer sizes from 2 "to 12". APEVA can offer systems for glass sizes from Gen1 to larger than Gen8.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Imprint :: AIXTRON. Retrieved August 3, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Annual Report 2019 (PDF) Retrieved on August 3, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Aixtron share moves up in the MDax - the background. Retrieved August 24, 2020 .
  4. ↑ About AIXTRON: Our History :: AIXTRON. Retrieved August 4, 2020 .
  5. ↑ DGAP-News: AIXTRON SE plans voluntary delisting ... Onvista , December 20, 2016, accessed on June 25, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Aixtron takes over Nanoinstruments Ltd. In: aixtron.com. October 8, 2007, accessed December 4, 2016 .
  7. ↑ APA : German chip system manufacturer Aixtron looking for a buyer. In: The Standard . March 31, 2016, accessed December 4, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Aixtron agrees € 670m takeover by Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund. In: semiconductor-today.com. May 23, 2016, accessed December 4, 2016 .
  9. ↑ David Böcking: Mr. Liu does not understand the German fear. In: Spiegel Online. October 4, 2016, accessed December 4, 2016 .
  10. ^ Martin Goetzeler, Kim Schindelhauer: Letter to the shareholders. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: aixtron.com. September 29, 2016, archived from the original on October 26, 2016 ; Retrieved December 4, 2016 .
  11. ^ Lutz Reiche: Aixtron: Minister of Economic Affairs wants to re-examine the takeover In: manager magazin . October 24, 2016, accessed December 4, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Aixtron: US secret services stop selling German company to China. In: Zeit Online . October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Aixtron's fate depends on Obama. In: Spiegel Online. November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Aixtron: Obama blocks sale of German company to China. In: The time . December 3, 2016, accessed December 4, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Chinese cancel Aixtron deal. Handelsblatt, December 8, 2016, accessed December 8, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Aixtron can sell product line to South Koreans. In: Handelsblatt Online. October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017 .
  17. ↑ AIXTRON and IRUJA. Ltd. sign joint venture agreement. In: aixtron.com. October 24, 2018, accessed October 24, 2018 .
  18. ↑ a b c d Annual Report 2018. Retrieved on August 4, 2020 .