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Exhibit 99.1
NUMERICAL TECHNOLOGIES COMPLETES CADABRA ACQUISITON
Acquisition will strengthen management team and speed
mainstream deployment of Numerical's patented phase-shifting technology
San Jose, Calif., Oct. 31, 2000--Numerical Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:
NMTC) today announced it has completed its acquisition of Cadabra Design
Automation, Inc. (Cadabra). Cadabra is the leading provider of automated layout-
creation technology used to create the building blocks for standard cell, semi-
custom, and custom integrated circuits (ICs).
Leading-edge semiconductor devices using Numerical's patented phase-
shifting technology are currently entering production. Cadabra's cell-creation
technology coupled with Numerical's subwavelength technologies is expected to
speed the mainstream adoption of Numerical's patented phase-shifting technology
by the semiconductor industry. This will significantly increase the number of
ICs produced using Numerical's phase-shifting technology.
With this acquisition, Numerical gains extensive management and technology
licensing experience, which will be immediately incorporated into Numerical's
management and sales team. Faysal Sohail, former president and CEO of Cadabra,
joins Numerical's management team as senior vice president of worldwide
technology licensing and sales. In this role, Mr. Sohail will oversee technology
licensing, product sales and field applications engineering. The existing
Cadabra sales and marketing team will focus on expanding use of both the Cadabra
and Numerical technology within the customer base. Dr. Martin Lefebvre, founder
of Cadabra and its former chairman and CTO, joins Numerical's office of the CTO
and will be responsible for directing the integration of Numerical's technology
with Cadabra's products. Cadabra's U.S. employees will immediately be relocated
to Numerical's headquarters in San Jose, Calif. The Cadabra research and
development group remains in its existing facilities in Ottawa, Canada.
"As the industry continues to follow Moore's Law deeper into the
subwavelength realm, it's not enough to incorporate phase-shifting technology
into photomask manufacturing and the lithography process. IC design and layout
must also change to leverage the benefits of phase-shifting technology," said
Y.C. (Buno) Pati, president and CEO of Numerical Technologies. "By combining the
products, technology and expertise of Numerical and Cadabra, this acquisition
helps us to address the needs of mainstream semiconductor production and
accelerate adoption of our technology."
Under the terms of the acquisition, Numerical will issue 3.2 million
shares and options of Numerical Technologies stock to Cadabra shareholders.
Cadabra will now be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Numerical, with the acquisition
accounted for as a purchase that is expected to be accretive in Q1, 2001.
Technology Direction
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In the subwavelength era, design and manufacturing teams must create ICs
with features smaller than the wavelength of light used to manufacture them in
order to increase IC performance, yield and power efficiency. To meet this
challenge, semiconductor manufacturers are adopting phase-shifting and attendant
technologies as a part of their advanced manufacturing processes. Cell layouts
are the building blocks for IC designs and the primary means of transferring
information about new process technology to the design flow. As processes have
increased in complexity, Cadabra has seen a growing adoption of its automated
solutions for the design of these building blocks.
Subwavelength processes require the transfer of additional information
that was not needed in the creation of these building blocks in an above
wavelength paradigm. As the use of phase shifting becomes more pervasive, it
becomes imperative that the building blocks are phase-compliant, characterized
for the subwavelength process, and work within an existing design flow. An
automated system to generate subwavelength-enabled libraries becomes critical,
and will increase the number of designs that are enabled for phase-shifted
process technology. Numerical will create a cohesive solution--through this
acquisition--where the creation algorithms for these building blocks will have
in-depth knowledge of the latest subwavelength technology.
In April of this year, Numerical and Cadabra announced a relationship to
integrate Numerical's phase shifting and attendant technologies into Cadabra's
automated Library Factory(TM) flow. Cadabra has also integrated its technology
into the leading mainstream design flows such as those provided by Cadence
Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CDN) and Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS).
About Cadabra
Cadabra Design Automation, Inc. is the leading supplier of tools for the
creation of the cell layouts that form the fundamental building blocks used in
the standard cell, semi-custom, and custom IC design process. Cadabra's tools
help users achieve high productivity in the creation of very high quality,
error-free standard cell layouts. Current worldwide customers include top
semiconductor vendors, third party library vendors, and leading fabless
semiconductor companies in the graphics and communications markets. For more
information, visit the Cadabra web site at http://www.cadabradesign.com or send
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email to [email protected]
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About Numerical
Numerical Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: NMTC) develops and markets
proprietary technology, software tools and services that enable the
semiconductor industry to produce subwavelength integrated circuits, i.e.
integrated circuits with components smaller than the wavelength of light used to
create circuit patterns on silicon. Numerical's products and industry alliances
form a comprehensive design-to-silicon solution that enables the creation of
smaller, faster, and more power-efficient semiconductors using available
manufacturing equipment. Numerical's customers include the world's leading
semiconductor companies, design automation tool vendors, semiconductor equipment
suppliers and photomask manufacturers. Additional information about the company
is available on the Web at http://www.numeritech.com
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Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Statements about the rate of adoption of our technology by the semiconductor
industry, the number of ICs that will be manufactured using our technology, our
customers' ability to benefit from our services and technology, our ability to
realize the accretion to earnings as a result of the acquisition, the demand for
subwavelength enabled libraries, and our ability to integrate Numerical and
Cadabra technologies are forward-looking statements. These statements are made
based on Numerical's current beliefs and expectations. Investors are cautioned
that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual
results may differ materially from the results predicted. Risk factors that
could affect Numerical's future include business conditions, economic conditions
and growth in the semiconductor industry, our ability to integrate the Cadabra
and Numerical technologies, our ability to realize expected synergies of the
acquisition, our ability to increase the number of phase-shift designs, the
adoption of our proprietary technology by the semiconductor industry, our
ability to retain key employees, and our ability to maintain current, and enter
into new, industry partnerships. For more information about factors that could
potentially affect Numerical's financial results, please refer to the prospectus
filed on 4/7/00 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
copies of which may be accessed through the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov.
Numerical does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be
made from time to time by or on behalf of Numerical.
CONTACTS:
Numerical - Susan Lippincott, 408-273-4474, [email protected]
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MCA - Christopher Castillo, 650-968-8900, [email protected]
