Press Releases

Evans Analytical Group LLC Completes Strategic Acquisitions

Establishes Mainland China Presence and Adds World Class Transmission Electron Microscopy, Semiconductor Circuit Repair and Electrostatic Discharge Testing Services to Rapidly Expanding Portfolio

Sunnyvale, CA — 19 December 2006 — Evans Analytical Group LLC ("EAG"), the leading global provider of microanalytical surface analysis and materials characterization services, announced today that it has acquired Advanced Materials Engineering Research (AMER) and the semiconductor & microelectronics services operations of Materials Analytical Services (MAS).

“In addition to adding many world class scientists to our company, the AMER and MAS acquisitions accomplish several strategic objectives for EAG,” said Tom Pfeil, EAG CEO. “We have established a mainland China presence, added world class Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) capabilities to our extensive list of analytical techniques, and gained a significant failure analysis competency including semiconductor circuit repair and electrostatic discharge and latch-up testing services enabling us to better meet the needs of our clients on a worldwide basis and with an even broader range of solutions.”

China Presence
While EAG has been serving the growing China market for a number of years, the acquisition of the AMER lab (www.amerinc.com.cn) in Shanghai establishes a solid platform to better serve our customers and accelerate EAG’s penetration of the fastest growing high tech region in the world.

World Class TEM Services
The addition of world class Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and associated FIB capabilities fills a critical space in EAG’s otherwise comprehensive technique portfolio. These analytical services provide the nano-scale imaging and enhanced resolution required by our customers as high technologies trend to smaller and smaller devices. The AMER and MAS acquisitions give EAG a highly respected group of scientists along with advanced microscopy service labs located in California and North Carolina respectively.

Expanded Semiconductor Device Failure Analysis Capability
EAG also expands its semiconductor failure analysis services capabilities for device manufacturers and fabless semiconductor enterprises with the addition of decap, circuit repair and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and latch-up testing capabilities. These services deliver high value-add to this important customer base, and are expected to be an area of growth for the company.

Complementary Thin Film Analysis Capability
With these acquisitions, EAG has added LEXES and XRR/XRF techniques that complement its existing thin film analysis capabilities, including AES, RBS, XPS and XRD.  These new tools are capable of making non-destructive measurements of thin films on 300mm wafers.

EAG CEO Tom Pfeil adds, "EAG’s business model, experienced management team and scaleable infrastructure provide an excellent service delivery platform. We are focused on continuing to extend EAG’s position as the leading provider of microanalytical surface testing and materials characterization services, and the acquisition of AMER and MAS is another important step toward addressing our clients’ most critical requirements on a worldwide basis. We are extremely pleased with the integration of AMER and MAS into the EAG organization and will continue to look for opportunities to enhance the quality and scope of our analytical testing service offerings."

About AMER
AMER is a leading independent TEM, SEM, circuit repair and ESD service laboratory serving the semiconductor industry with locations in California and China.

About MAS
MAS’ semiconductor & microelectronics services operation, with laboratories in Arizona, California and North Carolina, is a respected analytical service provider offering most notably TEM, STEM, FIB, SIMS, AES, XPS, AFM, XRR/XRF and LEXES services.

About the Company:
Founded in 1978, Evans Analytical Group (EAG) is the world’s leading full service commercial analytical lab network serving a diversified high technology and industrial customer base of over 1,500 companies in over 35 countries.  EAG provides a comprehensive suite of microanalytical imaging, surface analysis and materials characterization services as well as semiconductor circuit repair and failure analysis testing.  EAG's services are a critical enabling component in research & development, manufacturing and sales support functions, and are used specifically in developing new processes or materials, transferring those processes to production, developing and qualifying new production tools, and solving manufacturing yield problems.  Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, EAG also has facilities in Arizona, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas, China and Taiwan as well as sales/support offices in the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Korea, and Singapore.  (www.eaglabs.com)

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
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