March 14, 2005 – Genus Inc. announced today that the merger with AIXTRON AG, a provider of equipment for compound semiconductor epitaxy, has been completed pursuant to the laws of the state of California. The shareholders of Genus, at a special meeting held on March 10, approved the merger with a majority of approximately 61% of the Genus outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting. Of the shareholders who voted, 94% were in favor of the transaction.
Commenting on the merger, Paul Hyland, CEO of AIXTRON AG, said, “We are delighted that the Genus shareholders voted in favor of the transaction. By combining the two companies we are creating one of the world’s premier suppliers of advanced deposition technologies for the semiconductor industry. This transaction enables us to leverage the two companies’ complementary strengths and gain the critical mass required to successfully compete in both the compound semiconductor and semiconductor equipment industries.”
“We would like to thank all of our shareholders for their support on this very important strategic move,” commented Bill Elder, chairman and CEO of Genus. “In the combined companies’ position portfolio, AIXTRON’s leading MOCVD equipment for the production of LEDs, high frequency chips and lasers, and in particular their ALD technology, will nicely complement Genus’ leading-edge ALD technology, which is required in the production of advanced semiconductors and hard disc drives.”