SiliconBeat

Asyst Technologies, the Fremont maker of automation equipment for the semiconductor and flat panel display industries, received a default notice from the administrative agent for its credit agreement under which it currently has an outstanding balance of $76.5 million, according to a company filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

KeyBank National Association said that Asyst failed to pay interest and fees on the debt agreement due March 31, and that it also had yet to pledge 4.95 percent of the outstanding equity interests of two of its Japanese subsidiaries.

Keybank noted that it and the other lenders “have other lenders have not taken any action to exercise their rights and remedies under the Credit Agreement or any related loan document.” While the lenders reserved all other rights and remedies that might be available under the credit agreement, but “did not by its terms purport to accelerate the maturity of the obligations outstanding.”

The notice sets the stage for a big bump in the interest rate Asyst will pay on its outstanding balances, equal to an additional $740,000 in cost through May 31. I also closes the door to any further borrowings.

Asyst has struggled with its bankers for months now in an effort to stay within the covenants it agreed to when the credit agreement was struck. A big goodwill write-down last October nearly put it in default over a covenant dealing with its maximum debt-to-capital ratio.