Kulicke and Soffa commences tender offer to acquire outstanding shares of Cerprobe

<%=company1%> (Willow Grove, PA), the world's largest supplier of semiconductor assembly equipment, announced today the commencement of a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Cerprobe Corp. for $20 per share in cash. Cerprobe is a leader in the design and manufacture of semiconductor test interconnect solutions.

The tender offer is being made pursuant to the definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger by and among Kulicke and Soffa, Cardinal Merger Sub., Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kulicke and Soffa, and Cerprobe, which was announced on Oct. 12, 2000. The offer will expire on Nov. 21, 2000, unless extended in accordance with the Merger Agreement.

The consummation of the tender offer is subject to customary closing conditions, including that a majority of the outstanding Cerprobe shares are tendered and the expiration or termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period.

Cerprobe is a world leader in the design and manufacture of semiconductor test interconnect solutions. Cerprobe offers products and integrated systems for wafer and IC package testing. Cerprobe markets and distributes its products and systems worldwide, and operates domestic manufacturing facilities in Arizona, California, and Texas and international manufacturing facilities in France, Scotland, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Kulicke and Soffa is the world's largest supplier of semiconductor assembly equipment. The company provides scaleable solutions for the assembly of chip and wire, flip chip, and chip scale packages. Chip and wire solutions combine wire bonding, die bonding and wafer dicing equipment with wire, capillaries, die collets, and saw blades.

Edited by Brian Hegarty
Assistant Editor, Semiconductor Online