Nidec Completes Acquisition of SV Probe Pte. Ltd., a Probe Card Manufacturer

KYOTO, Japan, Oct. 31, 2017 -- Nidec Corporation (TSE:6594) (OTC US:NJDCY) (the “Company” or “Nidec”)  today announced that the Company has completed the acquisition of 100% equity shares of SV Probe Pte. Ltd. (“SV Probe”), a probe card manufacturer, from its Singapore-based parent company Ellipsiz Ltd. (the “Transaction”) through the Company’s subsidiary, Nidec-Read Corporation. The Transaction was performed in line with the acquisition plan announced on August 21, 2017. As a result of the Transaction, SV Probe became a consolidated subsidiary of Nidec, as outlined below:

1. Outline of New Subsidiary

2. Purpose of the Transaction and Future Operation Policy

Nidec-Read’s main business is the development, manufacturing and sale of inspection equipment for semiconductor package substrates and printed circuit boards, as well as inspection fixture. In recent years, it has expanded its product portfolio into small capacitance measurement equipment for touch screen panels and optical inspection equipment for semiconductor wafers. Embedded electronic active/passive components in smartphones and IoT devices are required to be increasingly small and power efficient. Also, new semiconductor packaging technologies that created embedded electronic component substrates and Fan Out Wafers Level Packages (FOWLP)¹ are diversifying and tightening inspection requirements. Nidec-Read has sought for a new inspection method that responds to the foregoing development in semiconductor packaging and that ensures its mid- to long- term growth target. The acquisition of SV Probe is Nidec-Read’s important step in that direction.

SV Probe was established in the United States in 1994 as a manufacturer of probe cards for semiconductor wafer inspection, with footholds in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Vietnam.

Through the Transaction, Nidec-Read expects to gain competitiveness in the inspection market by applying its MEMS spring probe² technology to the vertical probe cards³ manufactured by SV Probe. In addition, by mutually sharing its cutting-edge processing and assembly technology with SV Probe, Nidec-Read will be able to reduce manufacturing costs and improve investment efficiency. Nidec-Read also expects to sell its inspection equipment through SV Probe’s sales channel to the leading semiconductor manufactures.

¹ A package formed by expanding redistribution layer, which is connecting a semiconductor chip and a printed board, to the outside of a semiconductor chip by using a semiconductor process.
² Contact needle for energization testing with small diameter spring shape manufactured by Nidec-Read’s unique micro 3D pattern creation technology (photolithography).
³ A fixture for inspecting the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor chip which has contact needles arranged vertically standing to the semiconductor chip.

3. Effect on Financial Performance for the Current Fiscal Year

The Transaction is expected to have no significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial performance for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. The Company will make additional disclosure on a timely basis in accordance with the rules of the Tokyo Stock Exchange upon determination of further details.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the intent, belief, strategy, plans or expectations of the Nidec Group or other parties. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those described in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the risks to successfully integrating the acquired business with the Nidec Group, the anticipated benefits of the planned transaction not being realized, changes in general economic conditions, shifts in technology or user preferences for particular technologies, other risks relating to changes in business and regulatory environments. The Nidec Group does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained herein or the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements except as may be required by law.

Contact:
Masahiro Nagayasu
General Manager
Investor Relations
+81-75-935-6140
[email protected]