Verigy

About Verigy

Verigy Ltd. was a provider of automated test equipment (ATE) for the semiconductor industry, specializing in systems for system-on-a-chip (SoC), memory, and multi-chip package testing. The company's origins trace back to a business unit within Hewlett-Packard, which later became part of Agilent Technologies. In 2006, Verigy was spun off from Agilent Technologies to operate as a standalone company focused exclusively on semiconductor test solutions. The spin-off was announced in August 2005, and Verigy went public on the NASDAQ in June 2006 under the ticker VRGY. Jack Trautman was the president of the Agilent business that became Verigy, and Keith Barnes served as the initial CEO, later becoming chairman. The company was headquartered in Cupertino, California, with its global headquarters in Singapore. Verigy served a worldwide client base of integrated device manufacturers, semiconductor foundries, and fabless design companies, with a significant portion of its revenue coming from the Asia-Pacific region. Its business model involved the design, development, manufacture, and sale of advanced semiconductor test systems and related services. To enhance efficiency, the company outsourced its manufacturing to partners like Flextronics starting in 2006. Verigy's primary product platforms included the V93000 for the SoC and system-in-package (SiP) market, the V6000 for flash and DRAM memory, and the V101 for low-cost ICs. The V93000 platform, in particular, was a scalable architecture that became a landmark in the industry for its performance and cost-effectiveness. The company also offered software for design debug and yield acceleration and made strategic acquisitions, such as Inovys in 2007 and Touchdown Technologies in 2009, to enhance its capabilities. After a bidding process that also involved LTX-Credence, Verigy was acquired by the Japanese ATE leader Advantest Corporation. The all-cash transaction was completed on July 4, 2011, for approximately $1.1 billion, after which Verigy became a wholly owned subsidiary of Advantest and was delisted from NASDAQ.