Veeco to sell metrology biz to Bruker for $229 mn

SAN JOSE, USA: In a move intended to keep its key businesses in focus, Veeco Instruments Inc. has entered into an agreement to sell its metrology business to Bruker Corp. for $229 million in cash.

The sale will include Veeco’s atomic force microscope (AFM) business in Santa Barbara, California; and its optical industrial metrology (OIM) business in Tucson, Arizona. It also includes Veeco’s associated global AFM/OIM field sales and support organization.

Bruker will be combining Veeco's metrology unit with its Bruker Nano instruments business, which sells a broad range of systems and analytical solutions for materials and nanotechnology research.

Sources have said that a large number of employees from the New York based Veeco will move to Bruker. It is expected that most of them will be from the metrology factory and from field support. More concrete details are expected to emerge at the time of the transaction being closed.

Both company boards have approved the transaction, which is expected to draw to a close in the fourth quarter of 2010. Regulatory review is pending and the usual closing conditions have also not yet been finalized.

Sources say that Veeco expects the proceeds from the transaction to be around $160 million of estimated applicable taxes and transaction fees. The company intends to focus on its LED and Solar and Data Storage Process Equipment businesses, said the sources.

Veeco has been seeing record quarterly results in the LED arena. Second quarter revenue was $253 million - a new record for Veeco. This was an increase of approximately 250 percent from last year and 55 percent sequentially. Net income was $52.4 million, compared to a loss of $14.7 a year ago.