History
MKS was founded in 1961 by engineers Ken Harrison and John A. Dillon. Both co-founders contributed to the company's first product, the Baratron® capacitance manometer, which measures gas pressure within a semiconductor wafer fabrication chamber.
The 1990s saw substantial growth in the semiconductor industry due to the development of more powerful microprocessors and integrated circuits and the adoption of personal computing by consumers and businesses worldwide. MKS capitalized on the demand with advancements in vacuum measurement and control, gas and vapor delivery, and process monitoring solutions. The company expanded its global presence by establishing new sales and service offices worldwide to better serve an international customer base and tap into emerging markets in Europe and Asia.
In 1999, the company undertook an initial public offering (IPO). MKS went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
In 2000, MKS acquired California-based Spectra International, LLC, a designer and manufacturer of mass spectrometer and optical spectrometer-based process monitoring products used in the semiconductor, thin film coatings and advanced materials processing industries, for $9.7 million in cash.
In 2001, MKS acquired Applied Science and Technology Inc.(ASTeX), a supplier of sputtering equipment and other products, for $300 million in stock [1] .
In 2002, MKS acquired Emerson Electric Company’s ENI Division, a supplier of solid-state radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) plasma power supplies, matching networks and instrumentation for $288 million in stock [2] .
Umetrics, a privately held Swedish supplier of multivariate data analysis and design of experiments software, was purchased by MKS in 2008 [3] .
In 2010, MKS purchased Granville-Phillips for $87 million. Granville-Phillips is a provider of vacuum measurement and control instruments for the thin film, semiconductor, and general industrial markets [4] .
In 2012, Plasmart, a South Korean supplier of RF plasma systems was acquired by MKS [5] .
In 2016, MKS acquired Newport Corporation in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $980 million. Newport Corporation consisted of 3 brands, Newport®, Spectra-Physics®, and Ophir® , providers of photonics and optics products [6] .
In 2019, ESI (Electro Scientific Industries) was acquired by MKS for $1 billion. ESI is a provider of laser micro-machining, laser-based advanced manufacturing systems, and photonic-based precision equipment used in PCB manufacturing [7] .
In 2022, MKS acquired Atotech, a German tech company for approximately $4.4 billion in cash and MKS common stock. Atotech is a supplier of specialty chemicals and surface finishing technologies [8] .
