BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, April 26, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq:ASMI) (Euronext Amsterdam:ASM) and Genitech, Inc., a privately-held semiconductor equipment supplier based in South Korea, announced today that they have entered into an agreement for ASMI to purchase Genitech for a combination of cash, ASMI common shares and additional variable cash payments over the next five-years. The value of the transaction at the closing, expected in May, is approximately US $9 million, of which slightly over US $5 million will be in common stock. Additionally, ASMI will pay up to approximately US $9 million in cash over the next five years, depending upon the achievement of performance targets. The transaction is expected to be finalized within the next two months and is subject to regulatory approvals customary for this type of a transaction in South Korea.
In making the Genitech announcement, Arthur del Prado, president and CEO of ASM International, stressed the strategic importance of the Genitech acquisition. "This acquisition represents ASM's second and final step in the integration of major technologies in its Third Generation Interconnect(TM) Back-end-of-Line (BEOL) product offering. The melding of ASMI and Genitech's complementary technologies accelerates the development of copper barrier and seed, and copper filling capabilities."
Genitech's is a supplier of plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD(TM)) for metal and dielectric deposition and Superfill CVD(TM), a catalytic enhanced Metal Organic CVD process for copper deposition. In 2001, ASMI and Genitech entered into a strategic technology and marketing agreement through which ASMI offered Genitech's PEALD and Superfill CVD products in its next generation copper interconnect solution, called Third Generation Interconnect(TM), a Back-end-of-Line wafer processing solution based on ASM's cornerstone Aurora(R)low-k materials, and which also incorporates NuTool's ECMD(TM), copper deposition and planarization process tool. On March 2, 2004, ASM International also announced its intention to acquire the privately owned NuTool, Inc. in a stock transaction.
Arthur del Prado further commented, "As a pioneer of atomic layer deposition (ALD) to the semiconductor industry, ASMI itself has achieved a leadership position in gate stack applications. This addition of Genitech's PEALD(TM) technology enhances ASMI's proprietary ALCVD(TM) product portfolio by enabling us to provide complementary solutions for the thicker capacitor films. The use of plasma in ALD not only speeds up the deposition rate, making the process more economical than ALD, it also improves the quality of certain films deposited at lower temperatures as compared to ALD. Furthermore, we expect that PEALD(TM) and ALD will serve complementary markets."
According to VSLI Research, Inc., the market for ALD (PEALD and ALD) deposition tools is expected to grow at an annual rate of 66.5 percent, from approximately $100 million in 2003, to $1.35 billion in 2008.
In-Kyu Park, president and CEO of Genitech, commented, "Genitech has already established itself with a strong position in the Korean market. Being part of ASMI's worldwide organization will greatly expand the global penetration of our PEALD(TM) and Copper Superfill CVD(TM) advanced technologies. Furthermore, we have created a very substantial intellectual property portfolio of 20 issued and 64 filed patents, principally in the area of PEALD(TM) and the Superfill CVD(TM) process, that along with our other technical competencies, provides a strong foundation for our future success."
About ALCVD(TM): ASM International is a leading supplier of semiconductor wafer processing equipment, including Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) equipment. This advanced technology deposits single atomic layers one at a time and is used to create ultra-thin films of exceptional quality and flatness.
About PEALD(TM): Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD(TM)) is a process whereby the conventional ALD process is enhanced with the presence of so-called radicals or ions, more energetic chemical states of atoms and molecules created by the plasma. A plasma can be switched off faster than a flow of precursor gas, leading to a faster cycle time and an effective higher deposition rate than non-plasma ALD. About Superfill CVD(TM): The Superfill CVD(TM) process outperforms conventional copper processes, which have difficulty in growing sufficient material inside deep features on a semiconductor wafer, by preferentially depositing materials inside small features. The Superfill CVD(TM) films are particularly attractive as a so-called seed layer for the copper electroplating process.
About Genitech and ASM
Founded in 1996 by researchers formerly with the Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Genitech, Inc. is an innovative, dynamic, and privately held company, located in Korea, developing and manufacturing next generation semiconductor processing equipment for thin film deposition and copper metallization. Genitech has developed thin film deposition tools for PEALD(TM) (Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition) of dielectric or metallic films and for Superfill CVD(TM) of copper films for next generation metallization and interconnections. For more information, visit Genitech's website at www.genitech.co.kr. Genitech is a registered trademark of Genitech, Inc.
ASM International N.V. with headquarters in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, is a global company servicing one of the most important and demanding industries in the world. The Company possesses a strong technology base, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, a competent and qualified workforce and a highly trained, strategically distributed support network. ASM International and its subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for wafer processing (Front-end segment) as well as assembly and packaging (Back-end segment) through facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common stock trades on NASDAQ (symbol ASMI) and the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol ASM). For more information, visit ASMI's website at www.asm.com.
ASM is a registered trademark of ASM International N.V.
Safe Harbor Statement under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All matters discussed in this statement, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry, currency fluctuations, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholder and other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability and other risks indicated in the Company's filings from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Authorities.
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