In connection with the transaction, employees, manufacturing and key infrastructure will remain in Amerang, but be owned by Japanese ATE giant Advantest (Tokyo).

Advantest, through the purchase of Credence Systems GmbH, will also assume all of the unit's contractual obligations with automotive customers, including those obligations in connection with the automotive ATE products, such as Falcon, Piranha and others.

The transaction is anticipated to close on or before August 31.

"In order to achieve our profitability goals, we evaluated all of our operations for opportunities to reduce our logistical footprint and further optimize operational efficiencies,'' said Lavi Lev, president and CEO of Credence, in a statement.

''Credence will continue to participate in the automotive market with our current product lines as we actively address the broad and diverse consumer markets that also include wireless, entertainment and computing with products that deliver the best value to our customers," he said.

Following a recent layoff and a product divestment effort, Credence (Milpitas, Calif.) plans to narrow its focus and go back to its roots.

Now, the company plans to focus on fewer, lower-cost ATE platforms in the logic, mixed-signal and RF arenas. As a result, it is looking for a buyer for select products that it plans to divest, including an ATE system that is reportedly procured by Intel Corp.

Earlier this year, Credence entered into a definitive agreement to sell its diagnostics and characterization business to DCG Systems Inc. for $10 million.