ASML buys linear motor manufacturer Wijdeven Motion

AMSTERDAM, Sept 24 (Reuters) - ASML said late on Monday that it bought a key supplier, Dutch firm Wijdeven Motion, for its linear motor technology, which is crucial in determining the size of a nanometre, or a billionth of a meter, in ASML's chip-making kit.

ASML, the world's largest supplier to chipmakers of lithography machines that etch circuits onto silicon wafers, is Wijdeven Motion's biggest customer, and according to ASML spokesman Lucas van Grinsven, the small Dutch firm's technology is essential for ASML's equipment.

"Wijdeven Motion builds components for ASML's wafer and reticle stages which directly impact the required nanometre accuracy of ASML's lithography systems and are thus regarded a core competence for ASML," Van Grinsven.

ASML holds essential intellectual property on these motor modules and designs, and due to the unique design by and for ASML they generate no spin-off business to adjacent industries, Van Grinsven added.

Wijdeven Motors is based in Oirschot, not far from ASML's operations in Veldhoven in the south of the Netherlands and employees 80 people. ASML did not disclose an acquisition price. (Reporting by Roberta B. Cowan; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)