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[PLEXUS LOGO]
PLEXUS TO ACQUIRE E2E CORPORATION
SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASES PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
CAPABILITIES, EXPANDS GLOBAL REACH
NEENAH, Wis., October 2, 2000 -- Plexus Corp. (Nasdaq: PLXS), a leading provider
of product development, testing and manufacturing services to the electronics
industry, today announced the pending acquisition of e2E Corporation (e2E), a
privately held printed circuit board design and engineering service provider for
electronic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). e2E is headquartered in
Hillsboro, Oregon and has an annualized revenue rate of about $20 million.
e2E is the largest independent services firm in the printed circuit board design
and engineering business. The acquisition of e2E will significantly increases
Plexus' printed circuit board design and engineering capabilities as well as its
geographic footprint. The acquisition will expand Plexus' industry leading
product realization services by adding 100+ engineers/designers in seven
domestic design centers, including Hillsboro, Oregon, Nashua, New Hampshire, San
Diego, California and Dallas, Texas as well as international design centers in
Melrose, Scotland and Tel Aviv, Israel. Additionally, e2E's strong telecom and
medical capabilities will add key expertise and resources to Plexus' growing
presence in these key sectors. e2E's customer base includes several leading
OEMs, including Lucent, Nortel and Intel.
"e2E will be a significant addition to our overall design and engineering
capabilities, and provides us an immediate presence in key domestic and
international markets," stated John Nussbaum, Plexus' President and Chief
Operating Officer.
"We believe that our customers and employees are in excellent hands with
Plexus," stated Matt Bergeron, Chief Executive Officer of e2E. "We believe in
the Plexus strategy and in the importance of having design and engineering
services as key components to servicing electronic OEMs. Plexus has a strong
commitment to their employees and is devoted to creating a positive work
environment."
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The acquisition will be a stock transaction of approximately $20.5 million and
will be accounted for as a pooling of interests. Plexus will also assume e2E's
debt of $3.1 million. The deal is expected to close by December 2000 and is
subject to customary closing conditions. Plexus plans to retain all e2E
employees and management.
ABOUT PLEXUS
Headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, Plexus (Nasdaq: PLXS) provides product
realization services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the high-end
telecommunication, medical, industrial, computer and transportation electronics
industries. Plexus offers product development and design services, material
procurement and management, prototyping, assembly, testing, manufacturing, final
system box build and distribution.
SAFE HARBOR
The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts (such as
statements in the future tense and statements including "believe," "expect"
"intend", "anticipate" and similar concepts) are forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties. These risks include the Company's challenges in
integrating the acquired operations; these challenges could be particularly
complex in this case because they include foreign operations involving
additional factors such as currency exchange risks, the effects of local customs
and practices and management integration. Other risks include, but are not
limited to, the level of overall growth in the electronics industry, the
Company's ability to secure new customers and maintain its and the acquired
operation's current customer base, the results of cost reduction efforts,
material cost fluctuations and the adequate availability of components and
related parts for production, the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange
rates and average selling prices, the risk of customer delays or cancellations
in both on-going and new programs, the effect of start-up costs of new programs
and facilities, the effect of economic conditions, the impact of increased
competition and other risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange
Commission filings.
e2E shareholders and other potential investors are urged to read the proxy
statement of e2E and the prospectus of Plexus, which will be filed in the future
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to obtain important additional
information. After the documents are filed, interested persons will be able to
obtain them free at the Securities and Exchange Commission's website, which is
located at www.sec.gov. When the documents are finalized, they will be mailed to
e2E shareholders. Copies of the prospectus will be available free from Plexus
Corp. and copies of the proxy statement will be available free from e2E
Corporation.
For further information, please contact:
Tom Sabol, Chief Financial Officer
(920) 722-3451 or email at [email protected]
