Apr 8 2009
WRS Materials President, Richard Mee, announces the acquisition of Isonics Semiconductor Group (Vancouver, WA). This acquisition makes WRS the only fully integrated secondary silicon materials manager in the U.S. Mr. Mee explains that the goal was only partly to gain economies of scale: "Our vision is to better serve the semiconductor and solar industries with the widest possible silicon inventory, to develop an expanded engineering and sales team, and to offer a better geographic distribution of operations for shipping speed--at the best pricing available."
The acquisition of Isonics was made possible by the completion of WRS's latest round of equity and debt financing, totaling $9.9 million, with Wanxiang America Corp. as the lead investor. Mr. Pin Ni, President of Wanxiang, underscores their confidence in WRS's business model and growth potential, stating, "The WRS investment is consistent with our goal of investing in clean-tech companies. This partnership will expand our global silicon distribution and strengthen our vertically integrated solar model." Mr. Mee confirms, "Wanxiang's commitment to WRS provides us with an important strategic partner and supplier, helps strengthen our global manufacturing footprint, enables us to maintain more high-quality product inventory and allows us to pursue further acquisitions in a highly fragmented market."
The primary product benefits Isonics brings to WRS's product array are the addition of 90 nanometer particle grade reclaimed wafers, as well as expanded production in higher-end 200mm-300mm diameter virgin test particle grade silicon wafers. This 90 NM product addition complements WRS's existing line of 50mm-300mm standard grade semiconductor silicon. The result will be the greatest specification range of test and reclaimed wafers available to customers from any single supplier in the U.S. Mr. Mee calls his model a "fully integrated secondary materials manager - cradle to grave."