No name but bigger

Applied Materials, the world's largest IC equipment supplier, and Tokyo Electron Ltd., ranked third in the world, have agreed to a merger that values the combination at around US$29 billion. The merger will put Europe's ASML based in the Netherlands, into a rather distant second place. The press release states that the new company will be formed as a merger of equals and will have a new (as of yet not announced) name with dual headquarters in Santa Clara and Tokyo. The merged entity will have about 25 percent market share. The deal is aimed at coping with the ever increasing costs and technical complexities associated with developing manufacturing tools for ICs and display panels.