New York – Applied Materials Inc. said Thursday it will buy Boulder-based manufacturing- equipment maker Applied Films Corp. in a deal valued at $464 million.
Both companies’ stocks rose on the news. Applied Materials’ shares climbed 49 cents, or 2.7 percent, to close Thursday at $18.55 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Applied Films’ shares surged $5.06, or 22 percent, to close at $28.03.
Under terms of the deal, Applied Materials – the Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor-equipment maker – will pay $28.50 a share, or $464 million. Excluding Applied Films’ cash, Applied Materials said it is paying $303 million.
During a conference call to discuss the deal with Wall Street, Applied Materials chief executive Michael Splinter said the buy gives his company an additional market of more than $1 billion over the next several years and will speed development of new products.
Applied Films makes equipment used for the manufacturing of flat-panel solar cells, flexible electronics and energy-efficient glass.
Splinter said the solar-cell and equipment market is expected to grow worldwide at an annual compounded rate of 35 percent to 45 percent by 2010.
Applied Materials is paying a premium of about 24 percent over Applied Films’ closing price Wednesday of $22.97.
Separately, Applied Films on Thursday said it lost $800,000, or 5 cents a share, on revenue of $62 million in the fiscal third quarter ended April 1.
Adjusted earnings were 13 cents a share, down from 26 cents a share.
In the same period a year earlier, it earned $2.9 million, or 19 cents a share, on revenue of $44.9 million.
Analysts were expecting earnings of 9 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.
