Electro Scientific Industries

Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI) is an American high technology company headquartered in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, more specifically in Washington County, in the unincorporated Cedar Mill area north of Beaverton, Oregon. It is a developer and supplier of photonic and laser systems for microelectronics manufacturers.[3] Founded in 1944, it is the oldest high-tech company in Oregon.[4][5] Along with Tektronix,[6] and later Intel, it has spawned numerous technology-based companies in the Portland area, an area known as the Silicon Forest.[7] From 1983 to 2019, shares in the company were publicly traded on NASDAQ, under the ticker symbol ESIO.

Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryElectronics, semiconductor, Laser, Machining
Founded1944 (alternatively 1953)
FounderDouglas C. Strain (1953)[1][2]
Headquarters
Portland, Oregon
United States
45.52623°N 122.82329°W / 45.52623; -122.82329
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Michael Burger, President and CEO
  • Allen Muhich, CFO
  • Michael Stubelt, VP Business Development
  • John Williams, VP Marketing
ProductsLaser-based processing systems for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing, IC packaging fabrication, passive component manufacturing, testing, and inspection, semiconductor wafer processing and component parts micromachining;
RevenueUS$159.1 million (FY 2015)
ParentMKS Instruments
Websitewww.esi.com

In October 2018, it was announced that a deal had been reached to sell the company to MKS Instruments, Inc.[8] The deal was completed on February 1, 2019, making ESI a subsidiary of MKS.[9][10]

History
Framed photograph of Douglas C. Strain, on the wall of the science center named after him at Pacific University

ESI was founded in 1944[3] as Brown Engineering, later becoming Brown Electro-Measurement Corporation (BECO).[11] In 1953, BECO's Douglas C. Strain and three other investors bought out Strain's partners at Brown and formed a new company, Electro-Measurements Inc., which used the brand name "ESI" in marketing. The acronym stood for "excellent scientific instruments",[12] but the company's name remained Electro Measurements Inc. until 1959, when it was changed to "ESI, Inc." and finally in 1960 to Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI).[13] Prior to about 2000, the company was usually referred to as having been founded in 1953.[1][2][14][15] Douglas Strain was the company's CEO and board chairman from 1953 until 1980 and remained on the board (continuing as chairman until 1985, then vice chairman) until fully retiring in 1999.[15]

In the 1950s, the company's specialty was the manufacture of high-precision resistance measuring instruments and related products.[2] In 1970, ESI began developing laser trimming systems for resistor circuits,[2] and soon became a leader in this field.

ESI's headquarters campus building 4

All facilities were located at S.E. 43rd & Stark in Portland until 1956, when the first stage of a new headquarters and manufacturing plant on Macadam Avenue, in South Portland, was opened. The new plant was destroyed by fire[11] in 1957[16] and had to be rebuilt. In 1962, ESI announced plans to create a new development called "Sunset Science Park", to be built in the Cedar Mill area of unincorporated Washington County, Oregon, designed to attract other technology companies, with ESI as an anchor.[17] The company moved its headquarters to the Sunset Science Park location in 1963, and the manufacturing facilities followed in 1966, vacating the Macadam Avenue site. The complex on N.W. Science Park Drive, which remains ESI's headquarters today, has a Portland mailing address, but is not in the city of Portland proper; it occupies unincorporated land which is now adjacent to the city limits of Beaverton.

ESI became a publicly traded company in 1983.[2][18] It traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol ESIO.

The company opened its first foreign sales office in 1978, in Munich, Germany, and later opened offices in several countries in Southeast Asia.[19] As of 2007 the company also had offices for direct sales in several European countries, as well.[20]

Several small companies were acquired by ESI in the late 1990s, including Dynamotion Corp. (of California) in 1997,[21] Chip Star Inc. (California) in 1997,[22] Applied Intelligent Systems Inc. (AISI) (Michigan) in 1997[23] and Testec Corp. (Arizona) in 1999.[24]

A new manufacturing facility was opened in Klamath Falls, Oregon, in early 2001.[25] The company acquired California-based New Wave Research Inc. in 2007.[26] At the beginning of 2009, Electro Scientific had around 700 employees, about half of whom were located in Oregon.[5] Edward C. Grady was named as the president and CEO of ESI in February 2014.[27]

The company acquired fiber laser manufacturer Eolite Systems in June 2012,[28] the semiconductor systems business from GSI Group in May 2013,[29] and Chinese laser firm Wuhan Topwin Optoelectronics Technology Co. in January 2015.[30]

In August 2016, the company announced that Michael Burger, formerly CEO of Cascade Microtech, would succeed Edward Grady as CEO effective October 3, 2016.[31]

Annexation fight

In 2005, ESI joined Columbia Sportswear, Tektronix and other Washington County companies in an effort led by Nike to convince the state legislature to prohibit the practice of forcible annexation of "islands" of unincorporated land that have become surrounded by a city.[32] The Nike effort stemmed from an aggressive annexation policy being practiced by the city of Beaverton in 2004, under which the city had added more than 500 acres (2.0 km2) of unincorporated land, including the headquarters of Leupold & Stevens[33] (located almost adjacent to ESI, but on the opposite side of the Sunset Highway freeway). Although the headquarters of ESI and Columbia are not on "islands" surrounded by Beaverton, both directly abut the city boundary, and company officials were concerned about the likely eventual effect of the city's annexation practices should future annexations cause their properties to become part of such an island. The 2005 Oregon Legislature enacted a law prohibiting Beaverton from any forced island-type annexations for two years and additionally included language effectively banning Beaverton from forcibly annexing any of Electro Scientific Industries' property—whether an island or not—for at least 30 years.[34][35]

Sale of company to MKS

In October 2018, it was announced that a deal had been reached to sell the company to MKS Instruments, Inc.,[8] based in Andover, Massachusetts,[36] for a price of approximately $1 billion in cash.[8][37] On January 1, 2019, ESI stockholders approved the deal, also referred to as a merger, and the company announced that its stock would cease trading upon the closing of the transaction,[38] which was achieved on February 1, 2019.[9]

Operations

ESI manufactures a variety of laser-based processing and micro-manufacturing solutions designed to help manufacturers optimize their production capabilities by moving beyond the limitations of mechanical-based solutions. These include laser-based via drilling systems for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers and integrated circuit packaging fabricators. ESI systems also address the needs of passive component manufacturing/testing/inspection with wafer trim and circuit trim offerings. Semiconductor manufacturers use ESI systems for processing wafers. Manufacturers use ESI’s laser-based micro-machining platforms for component part manufacturing and marking.

ESI’s manufacturing facilities are distributed across the US and Asia, from the headquarters campus in Portland, to Klamath Falls, Oregon, Fremont, California, Bozeman, Montana and Singapore. In Asia, the primary operation hub is located in Shanghai.

The company, which traded on NASDAQ until early 2019, had annual revenues of $159.1 million for fiscal year 2015.[39]

Products

ESI’s interconnect and micro-fabrication products are used to create nano-scale features on a variety of materials and substrates in high-volume manufacturing. The company’s semiconductor products include automated ultra-thin wafer dicing and high-throughput, high-accuracy grooving systems.[40] In the area of component test and inspection, ESI offers automated test, termination, high-speed handling and visual inspection equipment for manufacturing of miniature multilayer ceramic passive components and other components, such as arrays, inductors and varistors. It also manufactures fiber, rod and solid state lasers and ablation lasers for use in laser manufacturing systems.

See also

References
  1. 1995 Annual Report (Form 10-K for 5/31/95) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  2. Enders, John (December 1994). "Electro Scientific Industries bounces back: One of Oregon's first technology companies has recovered from hard times". Oregon Technology Inc. (1994 edition), an annual supplement to Oregon Business magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  3. "ESI Financial Tear Sheet". ESI. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  4. Earnshaw, Aliza (March 20, 2001). "ESI surpasses analyst expectations". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  5. Rogoway, Mike (January 20, 2009). "ESI sales under "extraordinary pressure"". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  6. Meyers, Sean (October 19, 1997). "Tek's rich history helps define state". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  7. "Silicon Forest Universe". Portland State University. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  8. Rogoway, Mike (October 30, 2018). "ESI, Oregon's oldest tech company, sells for $1 billion". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  9. "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018". MKS Instruments. February 26, 2019. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  10. Spencer, Malia (February 5, 2019). "Oregon down another public company as ESI sale closes". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  11. An Intricate History Spanning Two Centuries (company history). Electro Scientific Industries. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  12. 1959 Electro-Measurements Inc. advertisement in The Pulse of Long Island (the monthly journal of the Institute of Radio Engineers, Long Island, NY, section), June 1959 issue, p. 13.
  13. A New Name! - 1960 advertisement in The Pulse of Long Island (the monthly journal of the Institute of Radio Engineers, Long Island, NY, section), February 1960 issue, p. 15.
  14. "Northwest Public Companies In Profile". The Seattle Times. June 11, 1996. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  15. "Guide to the Douglas C. Strain papers 1914–2007". Northwest Digital Archives, Oregon State University collection. 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  16. "$200,000 Fire Sears Plant" (July 19, 1957). The Oregonian, p. 1.
  17. Pratt, Gerry (January 21, 1962). "Cedar Hills [sic] Area Receives New 50-Acre Science Park". The Sunday Oregonian, p. 1.
  18. Humble, Charles (October 11, 1983). "'Sunoutages complicate telephone calls in Alaska". The Oregonian. p. D9.
  19. Portland Business Journal staff (January 21, 2003). "ESI opens new office in Taiwan". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  20. Portland Business Journal staff (January 3, 2008). "ESI to sell directly in Japan". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  21. Portland Business Journal staff (June 10, 1997). "Electro Scientific Industries completes Dynamotion acquisition". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  22. Portland Business Journal staff (July 1, 1997). "ESI buys Chip Star Inc". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  23. Portland Business Journal staff (December 5, 1997). "ESI completes Intelligent Systems acquisition". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  24. Portland Business Journal staff (January 15, 1999). "ESI acquires Testec". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  25. Portland Business Journal staff (December 5, 2000). "ESI contributes Oregon Institute of Technology scholarship". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  26. Earnshaw, Aliza (July 13, 2007). "ESI follows the playbook with $36M New Wave buy". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  27. Spencer, Malia (February 24, 2014). "ESI names board member as new CEO". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  28. staff (June 20, 2012). "Fiber laser firm EOLITE sold for $10M". optics.org. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  29. staff (April 11, 2013). "ESI to Acquire Semiconductor Systems from GSI Group". Photonics.com. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  30. Rogoway, Mike (November 13, 2014). "ESI will pay up to $18 million for Chinese laser company". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  31. Rogoway, Mike (August 19, 2016). "ESI's new CEO is Cascade Microtech's former chief". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  32. Giegerich, Andy (June 3, 2005). "Islands of discontent". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  33. Schmidt, Brad (April 8, 2009). "Beaverton drops annexation fight". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  34. Anderson, David R. (update by Friesen, Mark) (June 16, 2006) [updated June 8, 2007]. "Appellate court rejects Beaverton annexation". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2010-08-12.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  35. Oregon State Bill 887 as enrolled Archived March 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, from the Oregon State Legislature website. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  36. Spencer, Malia (October 30, 2018). "Electro Scientific Industries sells for $1B". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  37. "ESI Announces Second Quarter Fiscal 2019 Results and Agreement to be Acquired by MKS Instruments, Inc" (Press release). ESI. October 30, 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  38. "ESI Shareholders Approve Merger Agreement with MKS Instruments, Inc" (Press release). ESI. January 10, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-04 – via GlobeNewswire.
  39. ESI (May 12, 2015). "ESI Announces Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2015 Results" (Press release). Reuters. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  40. ESI (July 23, 2015). "ESI Unveils Innovative Solution for Laser Processing of Thin Silicon Wafers" (Press release). Reuters. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
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