FREUDENSTAT, GERMANY -- Schmid and Avaco have signed a deal to form a joint venture to address an increasing need for high-volume vacuum processing in electronics manufacturing.

Terms were not disclosed. The joint venture will focus on expanding the market share of vacuum processing in the PCB, IC substrate and embedded substrate market using cutting edge technology from the two companies, according to a statement announcing the deal.

Schmid has developed advanced vacuum processes for high-end PCB and IC substrate manufacturing, while Avaco is a supplier of sputter deposition systems for high-tech industries such as flat panel displays. The joint venture combines Schmid's market and process know-how with Avaco tool platforms.

“Partnering with a world leader in vacuum coating systems will allow us to introduce disruptive innovations to our customers in the advanced electronics manufacturing market," said Christian Schmid, president and CEO, Schmid. "In the upcoming months we will present high capacity plasma treatment and copper sputtering systems. These tools will address the challenges that our customers are facing in the processing of advanced base material. The newly developed processes have an improved cost of ownership and reach a very short return on investmet for the user. Avaco is an outstanding partner with wide-ranging engineering and manufacturing know-how in the field of vacuum technology. Their expertise will help to create a significant footprint for the joint venture in the electronics market.”

“We have chosen Schmid as our partner because of their extensive experience in the field of vacuum processes, which will be an important contribution to the success of this joint venture. During the past months there was an intense cooperation between the teams in Germany and Korea to define and design new vacuum systems that will expand our product portfolio and offer revolutionary solutions to our customer base,” said Jimyung Wee, CEO, Avaco.