SÜSS MicroTec AG: Acquisition of Tamarack Scientific - expansion of technology competence in photolithography

GARCHING, GERMANY: SUSS MicroTec, a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry and related markets, announced the acquisition of Tamarack Scientific Co. Inc. (Tamarack), Corona, California, USA. Both parties signed a corresponding purchase agreement. The agreement stipulates the purchase of 100 percent of Tamarack's shares for a total price of $9.34 million plus an additional variable earn-out component which depends on the development of revenues for the upcoming three financial years.

The requirement for more functionality and higher performance of electronic devices drives the increasing performance needs for semiconductor components and higher complexity at the same time. This trend will prevail in the future requiring the adoption of innovative technologies in the semiconductor backend.

In the last two years, necessary initiatives were undertaken to focus and reposition SUSS MicroTec to ensure that the company will remain in a position to respond to market and customer requirements in a fast and flexible manner. A further strategic step is the recent acquisition of Tamarack Scientific.

Tamarack develops, manufactures and distributes UV projection lithography systems as well as laser micro-structuring tools for the Advanced Packaging, 3D Integration, MEMS and LED markets. These systems are used in high volume industrial manufacturing as well as research and development. With the acquisition of Tamarack, SUSS MicroTec is pursuing a consolidation strategy in the semiconductor backend equipment industry by complementing its exposure technology portfolio with projection lithography.

'With this acquisition, we enlarge our company's lithography segment by adding a new product line and core technology, both of which are highly complementary to our existing exposure capability.' says Frank P. Averdung, president and CEO of SÜSS MicroTec AG. 'SUSS MicroTec thereby becomes the leading backend lithography equipment and solution provider by offering the most comprehensive set of products and technologies to the market. This enables us to uniquely satisfy a range of customer's needs and allows us to offer a broad product range to meet the different price and performance points required by the industry.'

'We are pleased to become a part of SUSS MicroTec, a company with a strong market position in semiconductor backend lithography, a global sales and service infrastructure as well as a solid financial position. Together with SUSS MicroTec, we can now expand our lithography and laser processing systems business faster and more successfully in our target markets.' says Courtney Sheets, chairman and CEO of Tamarack Scientific.