Summit Research Weighs In On Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron Merger

DealReport is out with a note commenting the cross-border merger of the two largest semiconductor equipment firms, Applied Materials AMAT and Tokyo Electron.

Summit Research Partners analyst Srini Sundararajan said Tokyo Electron is serious about making a deal. Commenting on Tokyo Electron's lack of performance and dwindling business, the analyst wrote:

"Lastly, the Tokyo Electron of today is not the Tokyo Electron of Japan's glory days; just like some of the semiconductor manufacturers it is also hurting a bit, having recovered from the great earthquake of 2011 and its place is as a part of a bigger company."

The merger is waiting on approval from regulators. Sundararanjan sees an Applied Materials/Tokyo Electron merger as containing less overlap and less monopolistic worry than other deals that have been approved in the sector, such as Advantest/Verigy or KLA-Tenco/Thermawave.