SCHARDING, Austria--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 2004--EV Group (EVG), a global supplier of wafer-bonding and lithography equipment, announced today that it has shipped an EVG850 production bonder to a new U.S. customer, Umicore Semiconductor Processing (USP) in Boston. The EVG850 features EV Group's low-temperature, plasma-bonding technology.

USP produces ultra-flat and thin silicon and bonded thick-film silicon-on-insulator (SOI) for a variety of applications, including MEMS, MOEMS, microelectronics and optoelectronics. USP is part of Umicore, the Belgian precious-metals and advanced-materials producer. Umicore plans to develop engineered substrates for micro- and opto-electronics applications.

Umicore, having chosen EV Group's technology after a lengthy evaluation of vendors, will use the EVG850 for silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer bonding and other engineered substrates manufacturing on 4-inch, 5-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch substrates. EV Group Chief Executive Officer Dr. Peter Podesser said this purchase will enable Umicore to combine its crystal-growth and wafer-processing expertise with EV Group's wafer-bonding technology to supply engineered substrates to semiconductor and MEMS-production customers
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About Umicore
Umicore is an international metals and materials group. Its activities are centered on five business areas: Precious Metals Services, Precious Metals Products and Catalysts, Advanced Materials, Zinc and Copper. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units.

Umicore focuses on application areas where it knows its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy can make a real difference, be it in products that are essential to everyday life or those at the cutting edge of exciting, new technological developments. Umicore's overriding goal of sustainable value creation is based on this ambition to develop, produce and recycle metals in a way that fulfils its mission: materials for a better life.

The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of EUR 4.7 billion in 2003 and currently employs some 11,500 people.

About EV Group
Founded in 1980, EV Group is a global supplier of wafer bonders, aligners, photoresist coaters, cleaners and inspection systems for semiconductor, MEMS and emerging nanotechnology markets. EV Group holds the dominant share of the market for wafer bonding equipment (especially SOI bonding) and is a leader in lithography for advanced packaging and nanotechnology. The company's unique Triple I approach (Invent - Innovate - Implement) is supported by a vertical infrastructure, allowing EV Group to respond quickly to new technology development, apply the technology to manufacturing challenges and expedite volume production. Headquartered in Scharding, Austria, EV Group operates via a global customer support network, with subsidiaries in Phoenix, Arizona; Cranston, Rhode Island; Yokohama, Japan; and Chung-Li, Taiwan.

For more information, visit www.EVGroup.com.
Contacts
EV Group
Dr. Ursula Deinhammer, + 43.77.12.53.11.40.09
U.Deinhammer@EVGroup.com
or
Loomis Group
Luz Rodriquez, + 33.1.58.18.59.30
rodriguezl@loomisgroup.com