Asyst Technologies files for Chapter 11, seeks buyer

NEW YORK, April 22 - Chip equipment maker Asyst Technologies Inc has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the rapid decline in the semiconductor market, and said in court filings it hopes to sell the company.

The supplier to Intel Corp and Toshiba Corp listed Flextronics Manufacturing Ltd of Singapore as its largest unsecured creditor, with a claim of $3.3 million, followed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP, Sauaro Technologies Inc and Jenoptik of Germany with unsecured claims of $515,000 or less.

Asyst, which was founded in 1984 and listed on Nasdaq in 1993, said in the Monday filing it had assets attributed to the unit in bankruptcy of $30.5 million and liabilities of $25.2 million.

In addition, the company has a multicurrency senior secured facility with KeyBank, which currently has an outstanding balance of $74.9 million.

The company said earlier this year it expected to break the covenants of its loan agreement with KeyBank, which has already been modified. It blamed the industry downturn and said it expects revenues in the current fiscal year to fall 46 percent from an expected level of $347 million for the year that ended March 31.

Asyst reported a net loss of $7.3 million for the final three months of 2008.

The company, which employs 280 people, also filed for similar protection from creditors for its units in Japan.

It said it retained Cowen and Co to explore a sale of its businesses and received preliminary indications of interest.

Asyst's shares were up 22 percent at 14 cents. The shares peaked at $5.20 per share in 2008.

Asyst and Cowen could not be reached for comment.

The case is In re Asyst Technologies Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, 09-43246.