Advantest

Advantest Corporation announced small minority investments and strategic partnerships with probe-card makers Technoprobe SpA and FormFactor Inc. Advantest acquired 2.5% of Technoprobe's shares and will purchase a minority equity position in FormFactor, with technology and PCB manufacturing collaboration.

FormFactor has entered into technology partnership and share purchase agreements with Advantest, building on a multi-year collaboration to develop wafer-level test cells for silicon photonics and advanced packaging.

Advantest acquired Collaudi Elettronici Automatizzati S.r.l. (CREA), an Italian power semiconductor test equipment maker, for an undisclosed sum. CREA will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advantest Europe GmbH.