ASM International Announces Receipt of Unsolicited Indicative
Combined Offer for Front-End Business Activities from Applied
Materials, Inc. and Francisco Partners
BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands - June 17, 2008 - ASM International N.V.
(NASDAQ: ASMI and Euronext Exchange in Amsterdam: ASM). ASM
International (ASMI) announces that it has received a combined,
unsolicited indicative offer from Applied Materials, Inc. and
Francisco Partners to acquire all front-end business activities. In
this combined indicative, non-binding offer, Applied Materials
reaffirms its indicative offer as previously announced on 6 June 2008
in respect of the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Plasma Enhanced
Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) activities, whereas Francisco
Partners' indicative offer relates to the remaining front-end
activities, including epitaxy and vertical furnaces.
For the purpose of this offer, Francisco Partners has indicated an
initial value of the remaining front-end business activities in the
range of USD 225 million to USD 300 million, whereas Applied
Materials has reaffirmed its initial value range of USD 400 million
to USD 500 million for the ALD and PECVD activities.
ASMI's management board and supervisory board will internally discuss
the offer and its implications. ASMI will determine its initial
position with respect to the combined offer and make a public
announcement thereof in due course.
About ASM
ASM International N.V., headquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands,
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 web site at www.asm.com.
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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
generally and the timing of the industry cycles specifically,
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 natural
disasters, terrorist activity, armed conflict or political
instability, epidemics and other risks indicated in the Company's
filings from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's reports on
Form 20-F and Form 6-K. The Company assumes no obligation nor intends
to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future
developments or circumstances.
Contacts:
Mary Jo Dieckhaus
Investor Relations
+1 212-986-2900
MaryJo.Dieckhaus@asm.com
Erik Kamerbeek
Investor Relations
+31 30 229 8500
Erik.Kamerbeek@asm.com
