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IQE Announce The Formation Of IQE Silicon Compounds

Source: IQE, Inc.

IQE plc, the leading pure play provider of epi wafers services to the Compound Semiconductor Industry, is pleased to announce today the formation and launch of a newly created Subsidiary of IQE plc to be named IQE Silicon Compounds Ltd.

IQE Silicon Compounds will be Europe s first independent provider of outsourced epitaxial services to the Silicon based Semiconductor Industry with a range of customer services from a new facility in Cardiff, Wales, UK. This operation will be highly complimentary to IQE s existing compound semiconductor epi wafer products and services business based on III-V compound substrates, since the range of epi services now required for the communications industries is growing rapidly. In particular, newer and more sophisticated products built on silicon wafers increasingly require complex epitaxial processes and a number of new materials such as SiGe are finding wide spread application, particularly in the fibre optic and wireless communication industries.

The new Company will supply a flexible, confidential, secure outsource service commencing in Q1 2001. Services will include selective and buried layer Si epitaxy for BiCMOS and Bipolar process; Silicon Germanium (SiGe), SiGe selective growth and other epi-services for predominantly the fibre optic and wireless communications industries. All wafers will be supplied with full performance and characterisation data and wafer sizes of 100mm, 150mm and 200 mm diameters will be catered for.

The first major customer for the new company is Bookham Technologies, who are the leading manufacturer of optical components and circuits based on Si wafers. However, there has been exceptional interest shown in the services to be offered by the new Company, by many other major European industry players.

IQE Silicon Compounds will operate from a new facility currently under construction in Cardiff, in close proximity to IQE s existing operations. Funding for the operation is predominantly by way of lease finance, aided by a substantial development grant from the Welsh Assembly under Regional Selective Assistance of £1.7million.

Consequently the new Company will not be reliant on finance raised earlier this year by IQE, which has been earmarked for growth of its existing Compound Semiconductor business and for Joint Venture and Acquisition activity.

Although the new company will leverage strongly from IQE s existing World leading expertise in epitaxy, a new team of experts from the Silicon Industry have been assembled, allowing the new company to grow rapidly without dilution of management resources of IQE s existing business.

It is anticipated that operations will commence in Q1 2001 and that the new Company will be close to break even by 2002. It is expected that over 100 high technology jobs will be created over the next four years.

Dr Drew Nelson commented, "This development marks another major step in establishing IQE as the leading provider of epi-services worldwide, with a comprehensive range of products closely aligned to our customers needs. As the materials requirements become even more sophisticated to enable faster, more efficient circuits and components to be built, epitaxy is becoming ever more important as a critical step in the manufacturing chain. Our goal is to provide the highest quality outsource epitaxial wafer services across the range of materials demanded by the customer base."

IQE plc is the leading outsource provider of compound semiconductor epi wafers with production sites in both the UK and USA. Its products and services are used by many major industry players in the optical fibre communications, wireless communications, optical storage and consumer products industries.

IQE and Bookham Technology Sign EpiWafer Supply And Services Agreement

IQE plc, the leading pure play provider of epiwafers services to the Compound Semiconductor Industry, is pleased to announce today the signing of a contract with Bookham Technology plc for the provision of specialist epitaxy services. Bookham Technology will initially sub contract time on IQE s epitaxy equipment and has entered into agreements to procure dedicated epitaxy production at IQE s site to provide for Bookham Technology s rapidly growing wafer requirements.

The initial contract will provide for production activities using the combined expertise of both companies in their respective sectors. This approach will help maximise the ability of Bookham Technology to rapidly develop new products and transfer them directly into production, thereby minimising the critical time to market for their advanced optical component products.

IQE plc is the leading outsource provider of compound semiconductor epiwafers with production sites in both the UK and USA. Its customised epiwafer products and services are used by many major industry players in the optical fibre communications, wireless communications, optical storage and consumer products industries, and the Company is a member of the FTSE-250.

Bookham Technology (LSE: BHM; Nasdaq: BKHM) designs, manufactures and markets components that integrate optical processing functions on a single silicon chip using high volume production methods. Using patented silicon-based ASOC technology, the company s products generate, detect, route and control light signals, allowing communications network providers to build systems with advanced optical processing capabilities to help meet the growing demands of Internet traffic. The company, which is quoted on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange, is headquartered in the UK, has offices in the US, France and Japan and employs some 900 people. For the nine months ended 1 October 2000, revenue was close to £14.9 million ($21.9 million).

Dr Drew Nelson, Chairman & CEO of IQE plc, commented "the agreement with Bookham Technology establishes a strong and highly complimentary link between two of the UK s leading companies in servicing the rapidly growing worldwide optical fibre communications industry and sets the scene for an increasingly close relationship between the two companies. We are very pleased to be linking with Bookham Technology".

Dr Andrew Rickman, Chairman & CEO of Bookham Technology added, "We are pleased to enter into this agreement with IQE, this will enable us to accelerate our future development programmes using our proprietary ASOC technology".

Contact: IQE, Dr Drew Nelson Tel: +44 (0) 292 0839 400 Alistair Hoy Tel: +44 (0) 292 0839 400 Nicola Cronk, Buchanan Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000

IQE, Dr Drew Nelson
Tel: +44 (0) 292 0839 400
Alistair Hoy
Tel: +44 (0) 292 0839 400
Nicola Cronk, Buchanan Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
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