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Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc (K&S) has announced that the company has entered into definitive agreements to acquire substantially all of the assets of Orthodyne Electronics Corporation, a supplier of wedge bonders, and sell the K&S wire business unit to WC Heraeus GmbH, a precious metals and technology group. Under the terms of the Orthodyne agreement, K&S will fund the acquisition of Orthodyne with approximately 7.1 million shares of K&S common stock, plus $80 million in cash. If the transaction is not consummated by October 31, 2008, the purchase price will be approximately 19.6 million shares of K&S common stock and no cash. The deal includes possible earn-out consideration up to an additional $40 million in cash if certain financial objectives are met by Orthodyne over the next three years. The closing of the transaction, which is expected within approximately 60 days, is subject to certain working capital adjustments and closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. "The acquisition of Orthodyne is in line with our stated strategy and positions K&S to capitalize on our strengths in equipment manufacturing and further cement our position as the leading supplier of interconnect solutions," commented Scott Kulicke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of K&S. "Orthodyne is a fast growing, profitable market leader and provides us with deeper penetration into the discrete side of the semiconductor market, particularly in the attractive power management and hybrid module markets."

Thieves are going after air conditioning units around the Triangle, hoping to sell copper piping they take from inside them.

Toyota Prius sales top one million units

Zambia's Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), a unit of Swiss firm Glencore International AG, said on Monday it had reversed a plan to suspend output at its copper mines due to an uptick in prices and falling production costs.

It was reported that KPS Capital Partners (KPS), a private equity firm, acquired United Copper Industries (UCI), the building wire and cable manufacturer for an undisclosed sum. UCI has said that capital backing from KPS will enable the company to develop its product line more quickly and enhance its customer service. In addition, it will allow the company to undergo an aggressive consolidation strategy involving the acquisition of companies that have similar product offerings.

Some of the UK's largest landlords have united to demand a larger stake in Sir Philip Green's retail empire, as part of the Arcadia Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).

Fujikura Ltd, the Japanese wire and cable manufacturer, announced on 4th February that it will cut 300 staff as part of an effort to restructure its business units. The company said it will reorganise its business into three units; energies/telecoms, electronics and automotive electronic components. The company also said that it will seek to consolidate its Japanese business in 2013 by cutting staff, whilst reinforcing its automotive components businesses and growing its overseas businesses. Fujikura Ltd announced that it is revising down its estimates for 2012 operating revenue by JPY1B (USD10.8M) to JPY7B(USD75.5M).

Furukawa Electric Co. announced recently that it has closed its Tochigi-based Imaichi No.1 copper foil plant. The operation, which had been producing electrolytic copper foil for use in circuit boards in the electronics industry, will be moved to Taiwan to reduce costs. The company cited reduced profitability and rising electricity prices as reasons for the decision. The company also announced it will shut most of its operations at its Imaichi No. 2 plant by the end of September.

"In the United States, the power system consists of more than 7,300 power plants, nearly 160,000 miles of high-voltage power lines, and millions of low-voltage power lines and distribution transformers, which connect 145 million customers."

Aurubis AG's Buffalo, N.Y. copper fabricating business unit (formerly owned by Luvata) announced an increase to the fabrication charges on its rolled product shipments, effective from 1st March. While the exact charge will vary by product, the average fabrication price will rise by 10%. The company has cited the long term rise in supply, maintenance, energy and health-care costs as reasons for the change.

Copper theft has become such an issue that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a warning stating that copper theft is a threat to critical homeland infrastructure. In a 2009 survey published by the Electrical Safety Foundation International, utilities in the United States reported approximately $60 million in losses and 450,000 minutes of outage time annually because of copper theft.

"China has started mass production of graphene films used in production of cell phone and computer touch screens as a new production line began operation. The production line is in a graphene industrial park in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. It can produce tens of millions of graphene films every year."