<PAGE>
EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
AGENCY CONTACT: COMPANY CONTACT:
Sandy Fewkes Connie Graybeal
Technical Marketing Programs Credence Systems Corporation
408.737.0285 or 408.737.9529 fax 510.623.4774 or 510.623.2524 fax
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Credence Invests in Tester IP Company NewMillennia Solutions Inc.
FREMONT, Calif., June 26, 2000--Credence Systems Corporation (Nasdaq:
CMOS), a leading manufacturer of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the
worldwide semiconductor industry, announced today the signing of a letter of
intent to invest in NewMillennia Solutions Inc. (NMS) of Irvine, Calif. The two
companies will work together to develop a new line of test solutions tailored to
high-volume, high-performance ASIC applications.
Credence will take a 19.8 percent equity stake in NMS, and Credence
President and CEO Dr. Graham Siddall will join NMS' Board of Directors.
NMS develops test-related intellectual property (IP) and markets test
equipment for the testing of high-volume Rambus(R) RIMM(TM) memory modules. The
company has already received orders for its recently introduced ATS800(TM) test
solution from a major DRAM supplier.
"We are excited about our investment, and we are looking forward to working
as a team with NMS," said Dr. Siddall. "NMS has demonstrated an expertise in
developing test platforms for Rambus DRAM memory and, working together, we will
leverage the technology expertise of both companies to deliver a new line of
test solutions tailored to high-volume, high-performance ASIC applications."
According to Jim Ellis, president and CEO of NMS and a 10-year Intel
veteran, "The Credence investment will help accelerate the delivery of NMS' test
solutions. Additionally, working with Credence, NMS will leverage its existing
IP technology developed for Rambus DRAM testing to expand beyond the memory
business."
Rambus Inc., a leading provider of high-speed, chip connections
technologies, licenses high-speed interface technology to semiconductor
manufacturers worldwide. NMS' current RIMM module test solutions provide
at-speed, 800Mhz testing in a motherboard environment. Due to a lower entry
price and
-MORE-
<PAGE>
operating cost than traditional ATE test systems, NMS testers dramatically
reduce the cost of testing Rambus memory.
"This announcement is significant in that NMS has established a partnership
with Credence, a leading ATE company, who will help drive down the cost of
manufacturing Rambus-based modules and logic chips," said Laura Fleming, Rambus'
vice president of Alliances and Infrastructure.
The agreement will enable Credence and NMS to leverage their combined test
expertise to deliver high-performance, low-cost ATE for Rambus ASIC cells (RACs)
and a range of other innovative test solutions.
ABOUT NEWMILLENNIA SOLUTIONS
NewMillennia Solutions provides test IP and is committed to new testing
paradigms and solutions integrating testability IP in Native Test Environments
(NTE). By focusing these technologies in high-volume semiconductor test
environments, NMS can provide high-speed, scaleable, high-throughput ATE
solutions while significantly lowering the cost of test. NMS' current NTE
solutions are targeting RDRAM memory and module test, RAC-based ASIC, and
graphics devices. NMS is now shipping the ATS800, a high-volume manufacturing
test system that guarantees system-level performance of 800MHz RIMMs (Rambus
interface memory modules). The company is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. More
information about the company can be found at www.moduletest.com.
ABOUT CREDENCE
Credence Systems Corporation is a leader in the manufacture of automatic
test equipment (ATE) for the global semiconductor industry. Credence offers a
wide range of products with test capabilities for digital, mixed-signal, and
nonvolatile memory semiconductors.
Utilizing its patented CMOS technologies, Credence products are
designed to meet the strict time-to-market and cost-of-ownership requirements of
its customers. Headquartered in Fremont, California, the company maintains
advanced production and design facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon. Credence, an ISO
9001 certified manufacturer, is listed on the Nasdaq National Market under the
symbol CMOS. More information is available at http://www.credence.com.
# # #
Credence and Credence Systems are trademarks of Credence Systems Corporation.
Other trademarks that may be mentioned in this release are the intellectual
property of their respective owners. Rambus is a registered trademark and RIMM
is a trademark of Rambus Inc.
