Rudolph flips lead-scanner assets

Rudolph announces the sale of its lead-scanner assets just days after reporting its Q2 revenue would beat its previous guidance.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- Electronic News, 7/14/2008

Just seven months after acquiring its lead-scanner assets from RVSI Inspection, inspection and metrology industry player Rudolph Technologies Inc today announced it has sold the assets and the licensed related intellectual property to privately held BKM Technology Partners for an undisclosed price.

At the time of the January deal close with RVSI, Rudolph said the addition of RVSI's WS-3800 3D bumped wafer inspection system to its product portfolio was expected to "strengthen Rudolph's established presence in the high-growth, advanced packaging market." In May, the company publically noted the release of its WS 3840, its latest addition to the Wafer Scanner product family, and reported the first order for the WS 3840 had already been received and scheduled for Q3 shipment.

Under the terms of the new agreement, BKM will provide global sales and service for the RVSI lead scanner product line.        

“We are excited about adding the lead scanner to our semiconductor solutions portfolio,” said Barton A Katz, BKM partner, in a statement this morning. “BKM has previously supported the RVSI lead scanner product line in North America, so it makes sense to expand this expertise worldwide.”

The lead scanners provide final inspection solutions for a variety of semiconductor devices such as BGA (ball grid array), QFP (quad flat panel), and TSOP (thin small outline package).

Rudolph made the announcement today just days after announcing its Q2 revenue would beat its previous guidance. As of July 9, Rudolph expects Q2 revenue to finish above $38 million, exceeding the company’s previous revenue guidance of flat to down 5% sequentially. The company’s Q1 revenue was $37.2 million, up 14% quarter over quarter.

The June quarter boost came from an acceleration of product sales resulting from recent acquisitions, according to Rudolph CEO Paul F McLaughlin. McLaughlin did not detail the product sales, however, the company throughout Q2 noted increased demand from customers serving the consumer and automotive electronics markets, as well as the data storage industry.

The sale also comes days before Rudolph is slated to brief analysts and investors at the SemiconWest conference, which kicked off today in San Francisco. The Flanders, NJ-based company on Wednesday will hold its briefing in room 256 at the Moscone Center from 8:30am to 9:30am.

The lead-scanner transfer of assets and inventory is expected be completed during the current quarter.