Osram to acquire all Infineon shares in their joint venture, Osram Opto Semiconductors
Munich, Germany. Osram GmbH will acquire all Infineon Technologies AG shares in their joint venture, Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH & Co. OHG, at a cost of Euro 565 million. With this acquisition, Osram will strengthen its market position in the dynamic field of opto semiconductors, while Infineon will focus its resources more strongly on its core business activities. The transaction will take immediate effect.
With the acquisition of the 49-percent share of Infineon, Osram Opto Semiconductors will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Osram. In fiscal year 2000 (ending September) Osram Opto Semiconductors achieved total sales of Euro 281 million with some 3,600 employees worldwide. Customer relationships in the optoelectronic segment will not be affected.
"The sale of our shares in Osram Opto Semiconductors is another important step in optimizing our portfolio," explained Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, President and CEO of Infineon Technologies. "This desinvestment and the sale of the infrared components business allows us to further concentrate on our communication segments, such as local and wide area networks and network access within our wireline communications group."
Dr. Wolf-Dieter Bopst, President of Osram: "This acquisition is a milestone within the scope of our innovation strategy: Osram is transforming itself from a traditional manufacturer of lightbulbs into a high-tech company. A major factor of this is the determined expansion of our business with semiconductor light sources. With this key technology we are participating in a dynamic market with annual growth rates of 20 percent."
In January 1999 Infineon (formerly Siemens Semiconductors) and Osram formed the joint venture, Osram Opto Semiconductors. Prior to the acquisition, Osram held a 51-percent interest in the joint venture, while Infineon had a 49-percent share. The company offers its clients optoelectronical semiconductors and today holds the number two position in the world market.
The most well known products are light emitting diodes (LED) measuring only a few tenths of a millimeter, which are used in cars, mobile phones, traffic lights, railway signals and general lighting. Their advantages in comparison with incandescent lamps are their minimum space requirement, low energy consumption, robustness and a service life of up to 100,000 hours. Osram Opto Semiconductors operates facilities in Regensburg (Germany), San José (USA) and Penang (Malaysia).
Production is currently being strongly expanded: In June, the foundation stone was laid for a new LED chip factory in Regensburg, which is due to start production at the end of 2002. Capacities for LED assembly in Malaysia were doubled during the current fiscal year. In Malaysia, production of organic light emitting diodes (OLED) is also being established, which will generate first sales in the coming fiscal year.
In accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) this intra-company transaction will not affect the consolidated statement of income.
About Osram
Osram GmbH, Munich, Germany, is one of the world s three largest lamp manufacturers, generating Euro 4.3 billion in sales in the 2000 fiscal year (ending September). Osram currently employs about 35,600 people (end of July), supplies customers in over 140 countries and runs 54 production plants in 18 countries. The global player realizes 89 percent of sales outside of Germany. Further information is available at www.osram.com.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for applications in the wired and wireless communications markets, for security systems and smartcards, for the automotive and industrial sectors, as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2000 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 7.28 billion with about 29,000 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.
Contact: Osram Media Relations Juliane Braun Tel: +49 (0) 89 6213 2390 j.braun@osram.de or Infineon Technologies Media Relations Guenter Gaugler Tel: +49 89 234-28481, Fax: -28482 guenter.gaugler@infineon.com or Corporate Investor Relations Matthias Poth Tel.: +49 89 234-26655, Fax: -26155 investor.relations@infineon.com
Osram Media RelationsJuliane Braun
Tel: +49 (0) 89 6213 2390
j.braun@osram.de
or
Infineon Technologies Media Relations
Guenter Gaugler
Tel: +49 89 234-28481, Fax: -28482
guenter.gaugler@infineon.com
or
Corporate Investor Relations
Matthias Poth
Tel.: +49 89 234-26655, Fax: -26155
investor.relations@infineon.com
E-mail: investor.relations@infineon.com
Web site: http://www.infineon.com
