Orbotech

Orbotech Ltd. a KLA company is a technology company used in the manufacturing of consumer and industrial products throughout the electronics and adjacent industries. The company is a provider of yield enhancement and production solutions for electronics reading, writing and connecting, used by manufacturers of printed circuit boards, flat panel displays, advanced packaging, micro-electro-mechanical systems and other electronic components. The company is headquartered in Yavne, Israel and operates in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific.[1]

Orbotech Ltd.
TypePublic (NASDAQ: KLAC)
IndustryElectronics
Founded1981 (1981)
FounderDr. Shlomo Barak
Yochai Richter
Kobi Richter
Prof. Shimon Ullman
Zvi Lapidot
Ami Caspi
Headquarters
Yavne
,
Israel
Key people
Gil Oron, CEO
Number of employees
2,400 (2019)
DivisionsPrinted Circuit Boards
Flat Panel Displays
SubsidiariesOrbograph Ltd.
Orbotech LT Solar, LLC
Frontline PCB Solutions Ltd.
Websiteorbotech.com

Corporate history

Early years

Orbotech was founded in 1981 by a team of engineers at Electro-Optical Industry Ltd. (El-Op) led by Shlomo Barak, who was developing electro-optical systems for military use, but saw commercial use for them as well. The company received financial backing from Uzia Galil of Elron Electronic Industries, an Israeli holding company. After 18 months of development, Optrotech was first to market with its first-generation Automated optical inspection product, although a number of other companies also had been working on their own automated inspection systems.[2]

As the first to market, Optrotech was able to become the market leader in its field helping transform the printed circuit board industry, enabling companies to begin the first of a series of productivity improvements. The faster production times and greater volumes helped drive costs down, and the steadily dropping prices of printed circuit boards provided still further stimulation for the development of the global electronics and computer industries.[2]

In 1983, a fellow Israeli company Orbot was founded by brothers Yochai and Kobi Richter,[3] Shimon Ullman, Zvi Lapidot and Ami Caspi; with the financial backing of Ormat Industries.[4] Orbot successfully launched competing automated optical inspection solutions and by 1986 overtook Optrotech as the AOI market leader.

In 1984 Optrotech had an initial public offering on NASDAQ raising $10 million USD. The funds raised enabled Optrotech to develop the next generation of its automated optical inspection technology and launched an effort to diversify its market, beginning development of its first CAD/CAM system.[5]

Merger of Optrotech and Orbot

In 1991, due to a slowdown in the global AOI market Optrotech and Orbot started discussing a merge of their complementary operations. In August 1992, Optrotech and Orbot reached a merger agreement, in which Orbot absorbed Optrotech, excluding its semiconductor subsidiary Orbot Instruments (which was later sold to Applied Materials). The resulting business was then renamed Orbotech and managed to capture 70 percent of the AOI market.[6]

Growth by diversification and acquisitions

In 1995, Orbotech adapted its technology to provide automatic check processing solutions for financial institutions, launching a new subsidiary Orbograph Ltd.[7]

In 1996, Orbotech established a joint venture with Germany's Jenoptik AG, to develop a laser-based direct imaging system for the production of PCB prototypes. The partnership came under full ownership of Orbotech in 2000.[8]

In 1997, Orbotech acquired the AOI business of Germany's W. Schuh GmbH, a company that specialized in the production of assembled printed circuit board inspection equipment.

In 1998, Orbotech boosted its presence in Japan by acquiring Toyo Ink Manufacturing's PCB sales and marketing operations, as well as Toyo's computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) product line, which was developed by its Israeli subsidiary EIT.[9]

In 1998, Orbotech entered into an agreement with Valor Computerized Systems Ltd. (which is now part of Mentor Graphics), to form Frontline PCB Solutions, a joint venture that develops CAM software for PCB fabrication. Frontline PCB Solutions is owned equally by Orbotech and Mentor Graphics.[10]

Entry into the flat panel displays market

During the 1990s Orbotech started developing a new automatic inception product line to support the new, fast growing, market of Liquid crystal display (LCD) flat panel displays. In 1999, Orbotect acquired Japan's KLA Acrotec from the KLA-Tencor Corporation, which enabled the company to develop a leading position in the LCD Inception market.[11]

2000s

In 2001, Orbotech established its own venture capital arm, Orbotech Technology Ventures Ltd., in order to invest in technology start-ups.[12]

In 2004, as part of the company’s strategy of diversifying into new growth areas for imaging technologies, Orbotech established a new subsidiary Orbotech Medical Solutions Ltd., to focus on the medical market. In 2005, Orbotech Medical acquired Imarad, a privately held Israeli company that developed a technology to manufacture high performance, solid state cadmium zinc telluride gamma radiation detectors, for $7.0 million; and in 2007 Orbotech Medical acquired 3D Danish Diagnostic Development A/S, a privately held Danish company engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of gamma cameras for use in nuclear cardiac imaging, for approximately $41.0 million.

In October 2010, Orbotech entered into an agreement with General Electric in which it sold Orbotech Medical Solutions to a subsidiary of GE, GE Medical Systems Israel Ltd. (formerly Elscint Ltd.).[13]

In 2009, Orbotech's Assembly Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) division, which had been started in 1997 by the acquisition of Schuh GmbH, was spun off into a separate company, ORPRO Vision GmbH.[14] The company sells self-contained machines for production line inspection in the automotive electronics, telecommunication, aerospace, medical and industrial electronics industries.

In September 2011, Orbotech's subsidiary Orbograph diversified into healthcare revenue cycle management through the acquisition of Correct Claims Now, a company providing healthcare payments processing services.[15]

In July 2014, Orbotech acquired British company SPTS Technologies, a manufacturer of equipment used to produce Micro ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) and semiconductor devices, for total consideration of $371 million.[16]

In March 2018, semiconductor company KLA-Tencor announced that it would buy Orbotech for a price of $69.02 per share, a 10% premium on the share price.[17]

In February 2019 KLA completed the acquisition of Orbotech.[18]

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-03-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Gale Directory of Company Histories: Orbotech Ltd, The Gale Group, archived from the original on August 20, 2011
  3. Richter family increases Orbotech stake Globes, 14 Sep 2009
  4. Ormat Technologies Inc (ORA) People | Reuters.com
  5. Israel's Financial Opportunities: profile of Orbotech Ltd, allBusiness
  6. OPTROTECH AGREES TO MERGE WITH ORBOT PR Newswire › August 17, 1992
  7. Orbograph Check Processing Solutions
  8. Orbotech Establishes Joint Venture To Develop Direct Imaging Technology Business Wire / April 30, 1996
  9. Orbotech Announces Signature of Agreement With Toyo Ink And EIT Business Wire › July 28, 1998
  10. "Frontline PCB Solution - About Us". Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  11. Orbotech to Acquire KLA Acrotec Electronic News / Feb 15, 1999
  12. Israel Venture Capital Journal; Jun/July 2001 No. 1 Vol 3
  13. "GE Healthcare to Acquire Orbotech Medical Solutions Business". Archived from the original on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  14. "ORPROVISION, "About us" Archived 2012-04-08 at the Wayback Machine Accessed Oct 21, 2012
  15. "Orbograph Diversifies into Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management Through Acquisition of Correct Claims Now Assets". PRNewswire. Sep 27, 2011.
  16. Orbotech Announces Closing of the Acquisition of SPTS Technologies, Business Wire, August 7, 2014
  17. "Chip gear maker KLA-Tencor to buy Orbotech for $3.4 billion". CNBC. Mar 19, 2018.
  18. KLA Completes Acquisition of Orbotech Ltd.
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