| 10/06/2006 |
| JHW Greentree Capital Invests in Advanced Metrology Systems |
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Philips Sells Majority Stake in its Metrology Unit, AMS
NATICK, Mass. – October 6, 2006
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG, AEX:PHI) and JHW Greentree Capital today announced Philips has sold a majority stake in its Advanced Metrology Systems business unit to JHW Greentree Capital, an affiliate of J.H. Whitney & Co. of New Canaan, Connecticut. Philips will remain an investor in the resulting new company, Advanced Metrology Systems LLC (AMS). AMS will continue to focus on delivering advanced metrology solutions for semiconductor manufacturers.
“Our hope is that this divesture will enable AMS to continue its aggressive and impressive growth,” said Harrie Brunklaus, Senior Vice President of Philips International of Royal Philips Electronics. “In the past year alone, AMS has grown over 50 percent, launched the IR3000 which has become the metrology tool of choice for deep trench DRAM, won the Semiconductor International’s editor’s choice product award, and signed customers such as AMD, Qimonda, Infineon, and other tier 1 fabs,” said Chris Moore, CEO of AMS. “AMS’s success is due to our ability to work with customers as their metrology process engineers and develop tailored solutions for their specific requirements. With the investment from JHW Greentree Capital, AMS will be able to continue its growth plans, invest in new advanced technologies and better serve our customers.”
“J.H. Whitney & Co has a tradition in investing in small and middle market specialty manufacturing companies and AMS with its proven growth, large potential market and innovative product line is an ideal addition to our portfolio,” said Robert Chartener, a principal of JHW Greentree Capital.
About AMS
AMS offers an extendable, scalable metrology platform that maximizes return on investment (ROI) by supporting multiple applications and processes. The platform offers fast and detailed results to characterize wafers, unique and comprehensive information on deep trench structures and thorough data analysis options. The AMS proprietary SurfaceWave™ technology provides rapid metal film thickness metrology for interconnect layers in advanced copper/low-k processes, while our unique Model-Based Infrared Reflectometry (MBIR) technology provides structural information on trench features of advanced DRAM devices. AMS has become the metrology solution of choice for DRAM etched structure metrology using the IR3000. In addition, the company’s AMS 3300 is the preferred tool for copper metrology solutions to measure patterned ECD copper.
About J.H. Whitney & Co.
J.H. Whitney & Co. was established in 1946 by the industrialist and philanthropist John Hay Whitney as one of the first U.S. private equity firms, and it has invested in hundreds of companies over its 60-year history. Today, the Firm remains privately owned by its investing professionals and provides private equity capital for small and middle market companies. Contact: Steve Kohnle
AMS
(508) 647-1149
steve.kohnle@advancedmetrologysystems.com
Contact: Alicia Libucha
Lois Paul & Partners, LLC
(781) 782-5703
alicia_libucha@lpp.com
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