Axcelis Technologies’ Board of Directors has rejected the $6.00 per share offer for the company by Sumitomo Heavy Industries. Axcelis cited the continued under-valuation such an offer makes when considering Axcelis’s business potential with its suite of Optima implant tools and the value in SEN, the joint venture implant business between Axcelis and SHI, the Axcelis board said in a statement. 

“Although Axcelis' recent trading prices, along with others' in the industry, have been depressed, the Board believes the Company is well positioned for the future and worth more than $6.00 per share,” noted Mary G. Puma, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Axcelis Technologies.

However, the company was not averse to further meetings with SHI, in particular to discuss options regarding the SEN joint venture. The companies have yet to agree on a licensing deal in regard to the single wafer Optima tools, a topic that has dragged on for over a year with little indication that the protracted negotiations would be completed in 2008.