Automated test equipment maker Teradyne (News - Alert) has completed its merger with chip maker Nextest Systems Corporation.

 

In December 2007, the company announced that it would pay $325 million to acquire Nextest Systems Corp, whose flash memory test gear is used in the telecom industry.

 

The completion of the merger makes Nextest Systems a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teradyne and prevents it from trading on NASDAQ.

 

“Detailed instructions will be mailed to former Nextest stockholders who did not tender their shares into the offer outlining the steps to be taken to obtain the merger consideration of $20.00 per share in cash, without interest,” Teradyne said in its announcement.

 

Teradyne’s fourth-quarter profit jumped 54 percent.

 

According to a report from AP, Teradyne’s net income rose to $16.7 million, from 10.9 million a year before. The Nextest acquisition solidifies Teradyne and enables it to expand its test business into the flash memory space, which is a $700 million market.

 

Teradyne bills itself as the world's top producer of complex and costly machines that test new microchips.

 

Flash chips, which retain data even when power is switched off, are used in digital cameras, portable music players, and videogame systems, and are beginning to replace mechanical hard drives in some laptops.

 

Teradyne and Nextest have few overlapping operations and that makes it easier for them to integrate their operations.