<PAGE> 1
EXHIBIT 99.14
Diodes Incorporated
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Diodes, Inc. to Acquire Wafer Fab
FabTech, Inc. to Support Development of Value-added Product Lines
Westlake Village, California - October 30, 2000 - Diodes Incorporated (Nasdaq:
DIOD), a leading manufacturer and supplier of high quality discrete
semiconductors, primarily to the communications, computing, electronics and
automotive industries, today announced that it has signed a letter of intent to
acquire FabTech, Inc. of Lee's Summit, Missouri. The transaction, subject to
various closing conditions, is expected to be completed in early December 2000.
The 5-inch wafer foundry, specializing in Schottky products, includes a 16,000
sq. ft. clean room within a 70,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility formerly owned
by AT&T. FabTech currently has 210 employees and is expected to generate
approximately $20 million in revenues in year 2000. The acquisition will be
internally financed and is expected to be accretive to Diodes' earnings
beginning in 2001.
"The acquisition of FabTech will take Diodes to the next level and begins to
realize our strategic goal of becoming a vertically integrated manufacturer and
supplier of discrete semiconductors. This strategy is designed to enable Diodes
to accelerate the development and introduction of new technology into our
products." said C.H. Chen, President and CEO of Diodes Incorporated.
"As devices become ever smaller and product cycles grow tighter," continued
Chen, "the market demands that we become a total solution provider. Diodes has
already demonstrated our capacity for superior customer service and world-class
manufacturing through our Mainland China facility. FabTech's wafer foundry
provides us with the manufacturing base and top-tier R&D team to develop
higher-margin, next-generation semiconductor products. Having worked closely
with FabTech in the past, we feel confident that their quality and customer
focus are a good match to our own."
"We are tremendously excited to be joining the team at Diodes," said Walter
Buchanan, President of FabTech, Inc. "During our close business relationship as
a wafer supplier, we have been impressed with Diodes' marketing savvy and
commitment to quality. After hearing C.H. Chen's vision for the future of the
discrete semiconductor industry, we realized that our own future lay with
Diodes. This relationship will give us access to a world-class assembly, sales
and marketing team, and a mandate to develop next-generation technology."
FabTech will be acquired from Lite-On Power Semiconductor Corporation (LPSC) for
approximately $25 million, with an additional earn-out for meeting specified
earnings targets over a four-year period. LPSC, which is part of the $4.5
billion Lite-On Group, owns approximately 38% of Diodes' outstanding shares.
"With Diodes' vision and FabTech's technology development," Mr. Buchanan
continued, "we feel we have a world-class organization. FabTech currently has
eight patents pending in technologies from ruggedized Schottky devices to
thirty-five hundred volt Ultra-Fast devices. Presently, our engineers are
working on the next generation discrete technologies." Buchanan will continue to
serve as President of the Diodes-FabTech division, reporting to Mr. Chen.
FabTech was founded in 1996 when LPSC acquired manufacturing equipment and
technology formerly owned by AT&T. FabTech's engineering staff includes eight
senior engineers, with over 190 collective years experience in the semiconductor
industry.
Join us for our third-quarter conference call to be broadcast live at 9:00 am
PST (12 noon EST) today, on our Webcast at: http://www.vcall.com.
31
<PAGE> 2
About Diodes Incorporated
Diodes, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIOD) is a leading manufacturer and supplier of
high-quality discrete semiconductor products, serving the communications,
computer, electronics and automotive markets. The Company operates two Far East
subsidiaries, Diodes-China (QS-9000 certified) in Shanghai and Diodes-Taiwan
(ISO-9000 certified) in Taipei. Diodes-China's manufacturing focus is on
surface-mount devices destined for wireless devices, notebook computers, pagers,
PCMCIA cards and modems, among others. Diodes-Taiwan is our Asia-Pacific sales,
logistics and distribution center. In addition, the Company signed a letter of
intent to acquire FabTech, Inc., a 5" wafer foundry located just outside Kansas
City, Missouri. The Company's ISO-9000 corporate sales, marketing, engineering
and logistics headquarters is located in Southern California. For further
information, visit the Company's website at http://www.diodes.com.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: Any statements set forth above that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
such factors as the Company's ability to consummate the acquisition of FabTech,
fluctuations in product demand, the introduction of new products, the Company's
ability to maintain customer and vendor relationships, technological
advancements, impact of competitive products and pricing, growth in targeted
markets, risks of foreign operations, and other information detailed from time
to time in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Source: Diodes Incorporated
CONTACT: Crocker Coulson, Account Executive, Coffin Communications Group; (818)
789-0100 e-mail: [email protected] or Carl Wertz, Chief Financial
Officer, Diodes Incorporated; (805) 446-4800
Recent news releases, annual reports, and SEC filings are available at the
Company's website: http://www.diodes.com. Written requests may be sent to
Investor Relations, Diodes Incorporated, 3050 E. Hillcrest Drive, Westlake
Village, CA 91362, or they may be e-mailed to: [email protected].
# # #
32
