Formed in 1981, ams AG, formerly known as austriamicrosystems AG, AMS (Austria Mikro Systeme International Aktiengesellschaft m.b.H.), is a designer and manufacturer of sensors and sensing solutions headquartered in Premstätten, Austria. ams headquarters is located on the grounds of an old Austrian castle. On 3 March 2021, the combination of ams and OSRAM has been accomplished. The combined company focuses on optical solutions for the future and serves customers in the consumer, automotive, healthcare and industrial technology sectors. 

AMS AG History

In 1981, American Microsystems Inc. and Voestalpine AG formed a joint venture. The company was named Austria Mikro Systeme International Gesellschaft m.b.H. with HQs in Unterpremstaetten near Graz, Austria.

In 1983 the Austrian chancellor Fred Sinowatz officially opened the first 100mm Wafer factory in Austria, where production began with 300 employees.

In 1989, the first sales office was established in San Jose, California.

In 1991 ams was seen as one of the 25 fastest growing businesses in Europe.

In 1992, Semiconductor International Magazine, USA named Austria Mikro Systeme International Aktiengesellschaft as (the/a) Top Fab of 1992 in Europe.

In June 1993, Austria Mikro Systeme International Aktiengesellschaft was the first Semiconductor Company in Europe to go public at the at the Vienna stock exchange.

Austria Mikro Systeme International Aktiengesellschaft opened the first sales office in Asia in 1995 the company also received ISO 14001: 1996 and EMAS certification. In 1997, AMS achieved first successes in the area of Deep Submicron technologies.

In 1998, the NASAs "Deep Space 2" mission took off with 2 chips developed by Austria Mikro Systeme International Aktiengesellschaft and Boeing. These chips were designed to manage the power supply of the space probe. In the same year the company was accredited according to the American and German Automotive industry, QS 9000 and VDA 6.1 respectively.

In 1999, Austria Mikro Systeme International Aktiengesellschaft was designated preferred global foundry partner for CMOS and BiCMOS by Europe's leading design houses.

In 2000, the foundation stone for the first 200 mm wafer fab was laid at the headquarters in Unterpremstaetten, Austria. Also Austria Mikro Systeme International Aktiengesellschaft opened Design Centers in Rapperswil (Switzerland) and Pisa (Italy).

The new 200mm production line starts its trial run. At the same time a license agreement has been reached between austriamicrosystems AG and TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.), the largest global IC Foundry. After the successful trial run the new 200mm Wafer factory goes ahead with the mass production in 2002. New sales offices in Singapore were opened in the same year, furthermore an expansion of locations in Hong Kong, Japan and the USA was carried out.

Silicon Strategies listed austriamicrosystems as the only European company under the top ten 2003 Foundries worldwide. austriamicrosystems AG decided to continue its policy of expansion with new sales offices in South Korea, China (Suzhou), Finland and Sweden. Additionally, a design center for multimedia playback applications was set up in Bangalore, India.

2004 was the year austriamicrosystems AG found its way back to the stock exchange. Since 17 May that year austriamicrosystems AG is listed on the Swiss Stock exchange, short SIX, in Zürich.

In 2005 the standard products as well as the capacity of the 200mm Wafer factory were expanded to compensate for the shut down of the old 100mm factory which played a main part in the success of austriamicrosystems AG.

In 2006, the year of the 25th anniversary, a new test centre in the Philippines and a new design centre in India were built. The 200mm Wafer factory was also expanded further.

In 2007 austriamicrosystems AG stepped into new business segments in the form of a partnership with the micro motor manufacturer New Scale Technologies. In the same year the new cafeteria & conference centre (CCC) was built by the architect DI Tinchon.

AG reduced emissions and plans in the mid term to produce CO2-free. Nevertheless, austriamicrosystems AG reached revenues amounting to EUR 209.4 in 2010.

In 2011 austriamicrosystems acquired 100% of the shares in Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc., ("TAOS") for about US$320 million (about EUR 220m). TAOS works in the area of light sensor technologies.

In May 2012 austriamicrosystems rebrands to "ams". The new brand name ams conjoins austriamicrosystems and the brand of TAOS, a supplier of intelligent lights sensors, acquired in 2011. Furthermore, ams AG acquired IDS Microchip AG in the same year.

Since 13 May 2013 Kirk Laney, former CEO of TAOS Inc., took over the interim management of the company after the step down of John Heugle, head of company for 11 years.

In June 2014 ams acquired 100% of shares in AppliedSensor, a maker of solid-state chemical gas sensors.

On 25 June 2014 ams published a statement of a possible merger of equals with Dialog Semiconductor.

In 2015 ams acquired the advanced CMOS sensor business from NXP and CMOSIS, a supplier of area scan and miniature medical CMOS image sensors.

In 2016 ams acquired CCMOSS, the color and spectral sensing specialist MAZeT, the optical packaging firm Heptagon and the Incus Laboratories, active in active noise cancellation in headphones and earphones.

In March 2017 ams acquired 100% of the shares in Princeton Optronics, Inc., a provider of Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), in an all-cash transaction. In September 2017, AMS announced that it would be opening site under $200 million plan in Singapore.

In March 2019 ams and Wise Road Capital, a global Private Equity firm focusing on the semiconductor industry and other emerging high-tech industries, create a joint venture to advance the development and sales of environmental, flow and pressure sensor solutions for the global market.

In 2019, ams reported record sales of US$2,085 million.

ams and OSRAM

In 2019 ams launched a takeover offer at €38.50 per OSRAM share following waiver of standstill. In September 2019, ams increased its direct shareholding in OSRAM to 19.99. In October 2019, the ams offer for OSRAM did not achieve minimum acceptance threshold. In October 2019, ams launched a second offer for €41.00 per OSRAM share, which succeeded in December 2019. In December 2019, ams entered into Business Combination Agreement with OSRAM. In July 2020, ams receives EU regulatory approval for OSRAM acquisition; expected closing of transaction on 9 July 2020.  In September 2020, ams AG announced that ams Offer GmbH and OSRAM concluded the Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement, enabling the integration of both companies into a combined new company.

ams has the stated vision for the joint company to create the uncontested leader in Optical Solutions. (ams and OSRAM)

On 3 March 2021, ams AG announced that the Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement ("DPLTA") between ams Offer GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of ams AG, the parent company of ams Group, and OSRAM Licht AG ("OSRAM") became effective on that day.

In 2020, ams becomes the majority shareholder of OSRAM Licht AG and concludes a Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement with OSRAM Licht AG.

For the full year 2020, ams reported in 2021 positive full year group results and strong full year group cash flow.

On 3 March 2021, the combination of ams and OSRAM has been accomplished. The combined company focuses on optical solutions for the future and serves customers in the consumer, automotive, healthcare and industrial technology sectors.