AMAT and TEL broke their marriage

Applied Materials, Inc.  and Tokyo Electron Limited today announced that they have agreed to terminate their Business Combination Agreement (BCA). No termination fees will be payable by either party.

The decision came after the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) advised the parties that the coordinated remedy proposal submitted to all regulators would not be sufficient to replace the competition lost from the merger. Based on the DoJ’s position, Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron have determined that there is no realistic prospect for the completion of the merger.

“We viewed the merger as an opportunity to accelerate our strategy and worked hard to make it happen,” said Gary Dickerson, president and chief executive officer of Applied Materials.

“While we are disappointed that we are not able to pursue this path, our existing growth strategy is compelling. We have been relentlessly driving this strategy forward and we have made significant progress towards our goals. We are delivering results and gaining share in the semiconductor and display equipment markets, while making meaningful advances in areas that represent the biggest and best growth opportunities for us.

“I would like to thank our employees for their focus on delivering results throughout this process. As we move forward, Applied Materials has tremendous opportunities to leverage our differentiated capabilities and technology in precision materials engineering and drive a significant increase in the value we create for our customers and investors.”