4 Menlo Park Companies Buy TRE’s Semiconductor Division

The Woodland Hills semiconductor division of Los Angeles-based TRE Corp. has been sold to a group of four Menlo Park venture capital firms. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The former TRE division will be known as American Semiconductor Equipment Technologies, a company formed by the investment firms in December to execute the takeover. The new owners plan to keep the company’s 100 employees, said Greg Reyes, the new president and chief executive of American Semiconductor.

TRE, which also makes helicopter rotor blades, home door locks and engine exhaust systems, has had mixed results recently in the semiconductor business, Reyes said. But, he added, the new owners--Menlo Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Indosuez Technology and Venture Growth Associates--plan to stay in the business and expect improved results.