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SAN DIEGO, Oct. 19 -- Tamura H. A. will sell thermal profiling equipment from KIC(www.kicthermal.com), the companies said today.

Tamura (www.tamura-ha.com) is a maker of lead-free reflow ovens and wave-soldering equipment. Jay Hah, GM of Tamura, said in a press statement, "Lead-free production sets stringent demand on the thermal process. The narrow process window requires more capable and stable ovens. The combination of Tamura and KIC [is] an effective formula for electronics manufacturers."

WILSONVILLE, OR, Oct. 21 -- Mentor Graphics today announced third-quarter revenues rose 3% year-on-year to $162 million while cutting its net loss in half, to $6 million.

Separately, the company guided for sales of $205 million in the December quarter.

The GAAP loss was the result of special charges for in-process R&D associated with the acquisition of In Design Automation, Mentor said.

"Although growth in the third quarter was slow, it was primarily due to the timing of major orders," said Wally Rhines, chairman and CEO.

Bookings grew 2% in the quarter although the book-to-bill was below 1.0. Rhines said year-to-date bookings have grown 8% and Mentor expects record fourth-quarter and full-year bookings.

Bookings in the Pacific Rim climbed 20%, while North America was up 5%. Europe slipped 10% and Japan was flat, although the latter's bookings are strong by historical levels.

Forty percent of the company's sales were in the Americas, 30% in Europe, 20% in Japan, and 10% in the Pacific Rim.

Pro forma gross margin was 86%. Gross margin on a GAAP basis was 84%.

Mentor (www.mentor.com) is leading supplier of PCB design tools.

SAN JOSE, Oct. 20 — Cadence Design Systems announced revenue for its third quarter was $302 million, up from $269 million last year.

On a GAAP basis, Cadence realized net income of $20 million, compared to a net loss of $14 million, last year.

Non-GAAP earnings were $52 million, versus $34 million last year.

LONDON, Oct. 7 -- Cookson Group plc today promoted Steve Corbett to chief executive of its Electronics division, replacing Ray Sharpe, who left the company last summer. The company also announced a shakeup in its laminates division.

Corbett was chief executive of Enthone, Cookson's successful chemistries division. He reports to Nick Salmon, chief executive of Cookson Group.

Corbett will oversee Enthone (the most profitable of the Cookson Electronics' business sectors), the Assembly Materials divisional head office and R&D.

Cookson's laminates group, known familiarly as Polyclad Technologies, will continue to report to Salmon. Polyclad is in the midst of a restructuring program, Cookson said.

Corbett joined Cookson Electronics in 1990 and has held a number of senior positions within the Assembly Materials and Chemistry businesses. He has been Chief Executive of Enthone since 2002.

Polyclad, meanwhile, continues to recover from the effects of the global downturn but has returned to profitability, according to Cookson. The division will continue to report to Salmon for the near term.

Joe Santolucito, chief executive of Polyclad, is leaving the company. Cookson named Rick Richesin, Polyclad's COO, as his successor. Richesin joined Polyclad in 1985 and spent six years as managing director of Polyclad Asia in China and Hong Kong.

In a statement, Nick Salmon said Corbett's "broad ranging experience of our markets and businesses, including his firsthand knowledge of Asia-Pacific, will be invaluable in driving the division forward."

HONG KONG, Oct. 12 -- Kingboard Chemical Holdings Ltd. plans to seek a majority stake in Elec & Eltek International Holdings, Dow Jones reported today.

Kingboard, which makes PCBs and laminates, currently owns 27.7% of Elec & Eltek International Holdings. If it succeeds in gaining a majority share in the company, Kingboard will then offer to buy the firm's Singapore-listed Elec & Eltek International Co. Ltd.

Elec & Eltek currently provides boards to Intel and IBM.

Kingboard said the deal will enhance the economies of scale of its PCB as the two companies' business and customers are complementary, Dow Jones reported.

ANAHEIM, CA, Oct. 8, 2004 -- DDi Corp. will lay off up to 175 employees at its Milpitas, CA, manufacturing facility and take cash charges of $1 million as it attempts to lower its costs. The losses will be partially offset by the expected addition of a small number of employees across DDi's other facilities, bringing the total staff reduction to approximately 7% of DDi's worldwide workforce.

Some orders will be moved to DDi facilities in Toronto and Virginia, taking advantage of those plants' lower production costs, said Bruce McMaster, DDi's CEO.

Following the restructuring, the company will continue to employ more than 1,800 people. As a result of the workforce reduction, DDi expects a cash restructuring charge of approximately $1 million to be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2004 and to realize annualized cost savings of between $6 and $7 million.