SUSS MicroTec: Contract negotiations for purchase of HamaTech APE successfully concluded

GARCHING/MUNICH, GERMANY: SUSS MicroTec AG (business announced the conclusion of contract negotiations to acquire HamaTech APE GmbH & Co. KG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singulus Technologies AG.

Both parties signed a corresponding purchase agreement, subject to the negotiated closing conditions. The agreement stipulates a purchase price of EUR 4.5 million plus a further EUR 4.5 million for the acquisition of the land and company building at the Sternenfels site. The closing date of the transaction is set for January 2010.

Both contractual parties (buyer and seller) had already signed a comprehensive term sheet for the acquisition of HamaTech APE on December 6, 2009.

The purchase price of EUR 4.5 million is comprised of a fixed and variable portion. The fixed component amounts to EUR 3.5 million and will be paid in cash. The variable earn-out component amounts to EUR 1.0 million and is linked to the future sales performance of HamaTech APE in the year, 2010.

HamaTech APE has established itself in the semiconductor industry as a leading global supplier of equipment for cleaning photo masks. It employs approximately 80 staff at its Sternenfels site and its international subsidiaries. In the 2009 fiscal year, the Company is expected to generate sales of EUR 11 million.

With the acquisition, the SUSS MicroTec Group is expanding its existing Coater/Developer product portfolio. "HamaTech APE's 20 years of experience in developing processes and equipment along with its highly innovative cleaning technology ideally complement SUSS MicroTec's core competency of critical wet processing in semiconductor production," Frank Averdung, CEO of SUSS MicroTec AG, commented at the contract signing ceremony.

"The modern production site at Sternenfels is ideally suited for expansion into a group-wide competence center for “wet processing”. We therefore intend to relocate the Coater and Developer production set up in neighboring Vaihingen to the Sternenfels plant," Frank Averdung continued.

"The high performance and efficiency of our systems have turned us into the globally recognized market leader in our sector. We address the most demanding requirements of 193i conventional lithography and, in addition, we are today the only supplier of solutions for cleaning masks for EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography," Wilma Koolen-Hermkens, Managing Director of HamaTech APE, remarked. "We look forward to being able to offer our extensive expertise to our customers as part of the SUSS MicroTec Group in the future."