Applied Materials buys Tokyo Electron for $9.39 billion

Applied Materials, the world’s largest chipmaking equipment seller, agreed on Tuesday to buy Japan’s Tokyo Electron in a $9.39 billion all-stock deal. 

The move represents a large step in the consolidation of the semiconductor industry as revenues shrink across the supply chain.

The combined company will have a new name, dual headquarters in Tokyo and Santa Clara in the US, a dual listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, and will be incorporated in The Netherlands.

If completed the transaction will mark the second-largest ever purchase of a Japanese company by a foreign firm, behind Citigroup's $13.9 billion staggered purchase...