Exhibit 99.1
Contact: Raiford Garrabrant
Director, Investor Relations
Cree, Inc.
raiford_garrabrant@cree.com
(T) 919-313-5397
(F) 919-313-5615
CHARLES SWOBODA NAMED CHAIRMAN OF CREE, INC.
Durham, NC, April 29, 2005 - Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) announced that its Board
of Directors, at its quarterly meeting this week, elected the company's Chief
Executive Officer and President, Charles M. Swoboda, to the additional role of
Chairman of the Board. As Chairman he succeeds F. Neal Hunter, who resigned as a
director on April 25, 2005 to pursue other opportunities. Mr. Hunter, a founder
of the company in 1987, served as its Chief Executive Officer from 1994 to 2001
and as Chairman from 1995 until his resignation from the Board.
"Neal has served Cree with dedication and passion over the last eighteen years.
His leadership and contributions were instrumental in growing the company from
an idea, shared by six co-founders, to the successful public company and
technology success story that it is today," said Chuck Swoboda, commenting on
the transition. "Our people, technology and financial resources give Cree a
unique opportunity to revolutionize industries and change how people use light
and energy. I look forward to building on the foundation Neal helped to create
and leading the company in realizing our vision."
The company also announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Dolph A.
von Arx as Lead Independent Director, a new role created by the Board as part of
its corporate governance initiatives. Mr. von Arx has been a member of Cree's
Board of Directors since 1991 and currently serves as Chairman of the Governance
and Nominations Committee.
In addition, the company announced that the Board of Directors has extended the
stock repurchase program through the fiscal year ending in June 2006. Under the
repurchase program the company is authorized to repurchase up to 5.45 million
shares of common stock. The company expects to use available cash to finance
purchases under the program. The program can be implemented through open market
or privately negotiated transactions at the discretion of the company's
management. The company will continue to determine the time and extent of
repurchases based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors.
About Cree, Inc.
Cree is an advanced semiconductor company that leverages its expertise in
silicon carbide (Sic) and gallium nitride (GaN) materials technology to produce
new and enabling semiconductors. The products include blue and green light
emitting diodes (LEDs), power switching devices, and radio frequency (RF) and
microwave devices. The company is currently developing near ultraviolet lasers.
Targeted applications for these products include solid-state illumination, power
switching, wireless infrastructure and optical storage. Cree understands the
important convergence of science, technology and creativity, placing high value
on ideas, as well as the energy and ability of its people. For more information
on Cree, please visit www.cree.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and
uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated. Actual results, such as whether repurchases
under the stock repurchase program will increase shareholder value and whether
we will maintain cash sufficient to fund growth, may differ materially due to a
number of factors, including fluctuations in the market price of our common
stock and other market conditions, the nature of other investment opportunities
available to us from time to time, our cash flow from operations and our future
growth requirements, and other factors discussed in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including our report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended June 27, 2004 and subsequent reports filed with the
Commission.
Cree and the Cree logo are registered trademarks of Cree, Inc.
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