EXHIBIT 99.1
ASYST PIONEERS AUTOMATION FOUNDRY MODEL WITH TWO STRATEGIC ACQUISITIONS
Help Asyst Advance Its Leadership in 300mm, Creating Expanded OEM Opportunity
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 2000--Asyst Technologies, Inc.
(Nasdaq NM:ASYT - news), the world's largest semiconductor fab automation
company, today announced it has signed definitive agreements to acquire two
privately held companies -- Advanced Machine Programming (AMP, Morgan Hill,
Calif.) and Semifab, Inc. (Hollister, Calif.) -- for approximately $24 million
in cash and an estimated 2.95 million shares of stock. The two companies are
suppliers of semiconductor equipment-oriented contract manufacturing and
integration services. AMP is a precision machining and assembly firm with recent
annual revenues of approximately $24 million. Semifab is a provider of process
environmental-control systems and outsourcing capabilities with estimated annual
revenues of approximately $21 million. Both companies are profitable. Together,
these two strategic acquisitions are expected to be immediately accretive to
both sales and earnings, and they are expected to close in early 2001.
With these acquisitions, Asyst is pioneering a new automation foundry model
aimed at semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Mihir Parikh, Asyst Technologies
chairman and CEO, explained: "These acquisitions complement our industry-leading
automation and isolation technology with services vital to semiconductor
equipment manufacturers, enabling us to offer these companies a one-stop
resource for their contract manufacturing and integration needs. Further, this
initiative places us at the forefront of an increased opportunity in the tool-
integrated automation market -- from an estimated $45 million per fab to more
than $80 million per fab -- for outsourcing of portal automation front-ends and
various subsystems. Already considerable, these needs will only become greater
as the in-process ramp from 200mm to 300mm semiconductor wafers intensifies."
Commenting on the new strategy, G. Dan Hutcheson, president of VLSI
Research Inc (San Jose, Calif.), said, "This makes a great deal of sense, and is
a natural progression for Asyst. Asyst has long been the top portal provider to
the industry, with their ability to understand the needs of both the equipment
maker and the chip company. Now, they're taking this capability to the next
level, creating a model whereby they can provide to the equipment makers and,
through them, to the chipmakers, a manufacturing capability that leverages their
technology strengths and service network. It's a unique, practical solution that
illustrates Asyst's flair for vision and innovation, as when the company helped
pioneer the minienvironment revolution more than a decade ago."
Benefits to Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers
AMP and Semifab have strong customer relationships with the world's top
three semiconductor original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) -- Applied
Materials, Tokyo Electron Ltd. and ASML/SVGL -- from which the two companies
derive more than 75 percent of their collective business. The products and
services brought under the Asyst banner with the new acquisitions will benefit
equipment OEMs in a number of ways, enabling:
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. Considerable cost savings by allowing Asyst to employ economies of scale
in combining its front-end technology with contract manufacturing and
integration services;
. Broader access to on-time, short cycle delivery of comprehensive
solutions; and
. The ability to obtain, from a proven, reliable source, service and
support unavailable elsewhere within the equipment industry.
Details of Acquisitions
The two companies will become wholly owned Asyst subsidiaries headed by
current presidents Craig Fisher of AMP and Glenn Roberson of Semifab. Asyst
plans to maintain both AMP's and Semifab's existing sites, creating new
opportunities for growth and employee recruitment in the South Bay Area. The
companies' 265 total employees will enhance Asyst's expertise in the companies'
core areas of competency -- manufacturing and integration services. For Semifab,
this includes not only its successful line of process environmental-control
systems, but also its full range of outsourced services -- from integration,
sheet-metal fabrication and machining, to industrial design and full and turnkey
builds. AMP's capabilities center on its sophisticated high-quality, high-
precision component machining and subsystem assembly, with short cycle times and
responsive configuration management.
The management of Asyst Technologies will host a conference call with the
investment community, the media and the general public to discuss the
opportunities these acquisitions afford Asyst and the equipment industry. Call
details: Friday, December 8, 8:00 a.m. PST / 11:00 a.m. EST. All interested
participants may call in to: 303/205-0044, or access the call via webcast at:
www.asyst.com. A replay will be available for five business days, beginning
Friday, December 8, at 10:00 a.m. PST / 1:00 p.m. EST. Replay dial-in number:
303/590-3000; passcode: 796403.
About AMP: Advanced Machine Programming provides contract precision
machining and electro-mechanical assembly services to the electronics
manufacturing and semiconductor equipment industry. Founded in 1980, AMP is
headquartered in Morgan Hill, Calif., and has a design/integration center in
Austin, Texas. AMP's "user-friendly" concurrent engineering, rapid prototyping
and turnkey manufacturing services enable the customer's focus to remain on the
customer. AMP's homepage is http://www.a-m-p.net.
About Semifab: Semifab, Inc., founded in 1978, designs, manufactures,
markets and supports complete process environmental-control systems, including
enclosures, air-control modules and inert atmospheres for isolated wafer
environments. A vertically integrated company, Semifab provides full outsourcing
capabilities for the semiconductor and other advanced technology industries,
striving to work in partnership with customers to provide high-quality products
at a fair price. Semifab is headquartered in Hollister, Calif.; its homepage is
http://www.semifab.com.
About Asyst: Asyst Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of isolation
and automation technologies that enable semiconductor makers to protect their
valued assets throughout the
2.
manufacturing process while increasing manufacturing productivity. Through this
"Value-Assured Fab" strategy, Asyst offers a broad range of 200mm and 300mm
solutions that enable the safe transfer of wafers and information between the
process equipment and the fab line throughout the IC fabrication process,
preventing human, environmental, mechanical and chemical harm. Encompassing
robotics, portals, wafer and reticle carriers, connectivity and interface
products, and transport and loading products, Asyst's modular, interoperable
solutions allow chipmakers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to select
and employ the value-assured, hands-off manufacturing capabilities that best
suit their needs. Asyst's homepage is http://www.asyst.com.
Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press
release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to: failure to
efficiently integrate acquired companies, failure to retain employees of
acquired companies, dependence on a few significant customers, the strain on
operations from our rapid growth, the volatility of semiconductor industry
cycles, competition in the semiconductor equipment industry, the transition of
the industry from 200mm wafers to 300mm wafers, risks associated with the
acceptance of new products and product capabilities, including our Plus Portal
systems, and other factors more fully detailed in the Company's most recent 10Q
quarterly report on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
Asyst Technologies, Inc.
Asyst Technologies, Inc.
Laura Guerrant, 510/661-5000 (Investors)
lguerrant@asyst.com
Maya Petrova, 510/661-5000
mpetrova@asyst.com
or
MCA
Lisa Gillette-Martin, 650/968-8900
lgmartin@mcapr.com
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