Topic: How To Invest

Spinoffs & Takeovers Hotline – Friday, March 24, 2023

Article Excerpt

MKS INSTRUMENTS INC., $84.96, symbol MKSI on Nasdaq, is a leading global developer, manufacturer, and supplier of instruments and components used to measure, control, and analyze gases used in semiconductor manufacturing. The company also produces instruments for manufacturers of fibre optics, flat-panel displays, gas lasers, and solar cells. Those products include pressure- and flow-measurement and control instruments, gauges, injection systems, vacuum-measurement instruments, and valves. In August 2022, MKS completed the $4.4 billion acquisition of recent new issue Atotech (symbol ATC on New York), a German-based specialty chemicals company. Atotech was taken public by Carlyle Group (symbol CG on Nasdaq) in February 2021 at $17 a share. Atotech supplies products that are used in the manufacturing of smartphones, home appliances, automotive, and heavy machinery. MKS Instruments already makes semiconductor (computer chip) equipment; acquiring Atotech, and its plating chemicals, expands MKS’s offerings in chip production. Meantime, MKS made a $6 billion offer in February 2021 for laser maker Coherent Inc. It lost out to rival II-VI Inc…