View PDFFREMONT, Calif., February 11, 2008 Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) today announced, based on preliminary results, that its cash tender offer for all publicly held registered shares of SEZ Group (SWX: SEZN) at Swiss Francs (CHF) 38.00 per SEZ registered share has successfully met the condition that more than 66 2/3% of SEZ shares be tendered.
By the end of the offer period on February 11, 2008, 4:00 p.m. Central Europe Time (CET), a total of 12,853,522 SEZ shares corresponding to 75.95% of all issued SEZ shares, and all SEZ shares that could be created through the exercise of all outstanding employee stock options to purchase SEZ shares, have been tendered into the offer. Based on this, the acceptance level of the tender offer is 75.95%.
The offer remains subject to certain conditions to be fulfilled, including without limitation regulatory approvals. There is also a mandatory period under Swiss law during which additional SEZ shares may be tendered and will be accepted in addition to those that were tendered by the end of the offer period. The additional acceptance period is expected to run from February 13, 2008, through February 26, 2008, at 4:00 p.m. (CET).
Subject to satisfaction of the remaining conditions, settlement of Lam's acquisition of and payment for the SEZ shares tendered in the offer through the additional acceptance period is expected to occur in March, 2008.
Lam Research Announces Successful Preliminary Results .......................Page 2 of 2
Following settlement of the tender offer, Lam expects to take additional steps as necessary to acquire any shares that remain outstanding. SEZ will become a division within Lam Research offering a full spectrum of leading edge Single Wafer clean solutions.
This release is neither a preliminary nor a final announcement of the interim results of the offer in accordance with the applicable Swiss takeover laws and has no effect under such laws or any other takeover laws whatsoever. Reference is made to the respective official announcements, copies of which will be posted at www.transactioninfo.info.
Lam Research Corporation is a major provider of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the world's semiconductor industry. Lam's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market™ under the symbol LRCX. Lam is a NASDAQ-100 company. The Company's World Wide Web address is http://www.lamresearch.com.
The SEZ Group is the leading provider of single-wafer wet-clean processing solutions for the semiconductor industry, with an installed base of over 1,200 tools. The company maintains operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, Japan, and North America. Since 1996, registered shares of SEZ Holding Ltd. have been traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange under the symbol SEZN. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at http://www.sez.com.
Copies of the purchase offer and prospectus and of the announcements under Swiss law relating to the results of the offer and upon which this release is based can be accessed at www.transactioninfo.info.
Lam Research Corporation Contact:
Carol Raeburn, Senior Director, Investor Relations
Phone: 510/572-4450, e-mail: carol.raeburn@lamresearch.com