Friday, December 06, 2013: One of the leading suppliers of equipment for electronics manufacturing industry in the world, ASM Pacific Technology Limited (ASMPT) has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Dover Printing & Identification, Inc. and Dover Corporation to acquire printer specialist DEK.
Once approved by the antitrust authorities, ASMPT will integrate DEK into its SMT business segment, which was established by ASMPT in 2011 at the time when it had acquired the SIPLACE SMT placement machine business from Siemens. The press release stated that together, SIPLACE and DEK will be able to develop and offer electronics producers solutions that deliver significant quality and efficiency benefits by aligning the printing and placement processes.
In 2011, ASMPT acquired the SIPLACE placement machine business and made it part of its new SMT business segment. If the transaction proceeds, the DEK team with its more than 700 employees worldwide is scheduled to be integrated into this business segment as its “Pre-Placement” division, where it will cooperate with the “Placement” division’s SIPLACE team. This new team will be headed by Michael Brianda, who is currently the CEO of DEK, while Günter Schindler, present COO of the SIPLACE team, will take over the management of the “Placement” division, and Günter Lauber, the current SIPLACE head and CEO of ASM Assembly Systems, will be the CEO of the significantly increased SMT business segment.
Commenting on the development, W K Lee, CEO of ASMPT said, “All of us look forward to welcoming the DEK team at ASMPT. We share a very similar culture of innovation. Together we will become even stronger for the benefit of current and new customers. I am confident that DEK and SIPLACE will be able to create completely new approaches in the SMT business by working together under the leadership of Günter Lauber, CEO of our SMT business segment.”
