SiliconBeat

Aviza Technology, the Scotts Valley supplier of condsemiconductor manufacturing equipment, filed for bankruptcy protection this morning on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries Aviza and Trikon Technologies, according to a company release.

Last month the company’s lenders notified Aviza that it was in default on its credit agreements, demanding that it immediately pay what it owed on its loans. As of May 26, that amounted to $29.5 million, according to Aviza.

The company has also been under continuing threat of having its shares delisted from trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

In April, the company said earnings for its fiscal 2009 first quarter would be lower than expected. The company said sales would be in the range of $9.5 million to $11 million, lower than the $13 million to $18 million the company had expected. Final results for the quarter have yet to be released and the company is now late in filing its required financial report with the SEC.

The company said it has made “significant efforts” over the past several months “to reduce its expenses and working capital requirements in response to” unprecedented market conditions for its products, including work force reductions, executive salary cuts, and mandatory time off for all employees.

Aviza said it has been working with Needham & Company “to review and pursue financial and strategic options for the company to maximize value on behalf of all of the company’s stakeholders, including merging with or into another company, a sale of all or substantially all of the company’s assets, and the liquidation or dissolution of the company through bankruptcy proceedings.”

Prior to the Chapter 11 filing, Aviza said it signed a nonbinding letter of intent to sell some of its assets and businesses to Sumitomo Precision Products of Japan.

“We have been working hard to find a buyer that would best leverage our products and provide on-going support to our customers,” said Jerry Cutini, Aviza’s president and CEO, in a statement Wednesday. “Through this voluntary bankruptcy process, we can continue to operate our business and pursue an orderly transition to SPP with minimal impact on our customers and employees.”