CAMECA Acquires Atomika and Consolidates its Position as World Leader in Ion Probes

Paris, France – CAMECA, the leading French manufacturer of semiconductor metrology equipment and scientific instruments dedicated to micro- and nano-analysis today announces it has acquired the assets and QUAD SIMS technology of the German ion probe manufacturer Atomika from its U.S. parent.

Atomika manufactures ion probes, and is the world’s leading manufacturer of quadrupole SIMS, which are used for surface analysis and process diagnosis in the semiconductor and LED industries. Atomika has 70% of the world’s quadrupole SIMS market with an installed base of over 60 instruments. Atomika’s customers include Jazz Semiconductor, IBM, Infineon and Toshiba. The business is based near Munich, Germany and has employees in Germany and the US.

Atomika is an excellent fit for CAMECA, which is the world leader in the designing, manufacturing, and servicing of ion and electron probes. Atomika will contribute to CAMECA’s product offering and presence in Germany and Asia and strengthen CAMECA’s position in the semiconductor capital equipment sector.

Georges Antier, President and CEO of CAMECA said, "We are delighted to be acquiring Atomika. Atomika’s team and products are first-class, and we believe will be very complementary with our existing business. This acquisition is an excellent step in expanding our business and consolidating our position as the leading player in SIMS instruments."

Vladimir Lasocki, Director, The Carlyle Group, and President of CAMECA’s Strategic Committee said, "We are pleased to be able to support CAMECA in this acquisition. We are pursuing every avenue of growth for CAMECA and were determined to seize this highly synergistic acquisition opportunity. The addition of Atomika is of strategic importance as it strengthens CAMECA’s product offering to the semiconductor industry, a key market for the company."

CAMECA was supported in this acquisition by The Carlyle Group, which acquired CAMECA in April 2005. CAMECA was advised by Cazenove (corporate finance), Constantin (accounting), and Latham & Watkins (legal). The Ugroup, a San Jose, California based consulting group formed to assist semiconductor equipment and analytical instrument companies in strategic growth and M&Amp;A initiatives, represented the seller.

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About CAMECA

CAMECA (www.cameca.fr) is the world leader in the designing, manufacturing, and servicing of ion and electron probes. The company offers the largest available range of instruments for research application in earth and planetary sciences, materials and nuclear sciences and biology. In addition, CAMECA provides a range of tools to the semiconductor industry for both in-line and off-line metrology applications. CAMECA’s most recent semiconductor metrology tool, the Shallow Probe, is a fully automated process control system designed to measure both elemental composition and thickness of thin films, a major metrology requirement at the 90nm node and beyond. The company is headquartered in Paris, and employs over 220 people based in its headquarters near Paris and in its subsidiaries in the United States, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

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