<PAGE>
EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Release
AGENCY CONTACT: COMPANY CONTACT:
--------------- ----------------
Sandy Fewkes Dennis P. Wolf
Technical Marketing Programs Credence Systems Corporation
408.737.0285 or 408.737.9529 fax Executive Vice President and CFO
E-mail: [email protected] (510) 657-7400
Connie Graybeal
Credence Systems Corporation
510.623.4774 or 510.623.2524 fax
E-mail: [email protected]
----------------------------
Credence Acquires 3G Wireless Test Technology Company,
Modulation Instruments, Inc.
FREMONT, Calif., August 1, 2000 -- Credence Systems Corporation (Nasdaq:
CMOS), a leading manufacturer of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the
worldwide semiconductor industry, today announced the acquisition of Modulation
Instruments, Inc. of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Modulation Instruments
specializes in leading edge RF test technology for the wireless device market.
The acquisition will be accounted for under the purchase method of accounting
for a purchase price of $20 million.
Credence will leverage the technology developed by Modulation
Instruments to deliver high-performance, cost-effective test solutions that
address the complexities associated with mixed-signal/RF test of
third-generation (3G) cellular phone devices. The main attraction of 3G is that
it will offer full-scale convergence of several existing technologies--consumer
electronics, telephony, computing and video--on a single handset. 3G wireless
technology shifts wireless communications from a voice-centric to a data-centric
medium and will enable more convenient internet access on wireless devices.
These test solutions from Credence address a market that Dataquest predicts will
grow to one billion wireless handsets by 2004.
Credence expects to deliver the first of these new products for both
development and production test before the end of this calendar year. In
addition, the new technology will enable Credence to further improve the cost of
test for current-generation wireless devices such as Bluetooth.
"The acquisition of Modulation Instruments accelerates Credence's
efforts to cost effectively test innovative new RF test technologies such as
3G," said Dr. Graham Siddall, president and CEO of
-MORE-
<PAGE>
CREDENCE ACQUIRES 3G WIRELESS TEST TECHNOLOGY COMPANY MODULATION INSTRUMENTS
Page 2 of 3
Credence. "It will strengthen further our portfolio of test solutions for the
high-growth wireless communications market."
"We are excited to be a part of Credence's thrust into the wireless
marketplace," said Ken Harvey, president and CEO of Modulation Instruments.
"Credence is positioned to accelerate the development of our new test technology
and enable us to address the development and production issues associated with
testing 3G wireless devices."
ABOUT MODULATION INSTRUMENTS
Modulation Instruments is a privately-held company based in Colorado
Springs, Colo. that designs, manufactures and markets wide bandwidth RF test
solutions for digital wireless communication devices used in cellular handset
and base station infrastructure equipment. Founded in 1999, Modulation
Instruments currently has 21 employees.
ABOUT CREDENCE SYSTEMS
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
memory semiconductors.
Utilizing its proprietary 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.
Statements in this release that are forward looking and involve known
and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual
results in future periods to be materially different from the future performance
suggested in this release. Such factors include, but are not limited to,
economic and currency instability in the Asia Pacific region, fluctuation in
customer demand, timing and volume of orders and shipments, competition and
pricing pressures, reliability and quality issues, the Company's ability to
complete the development of its new products, product mix, overhead absorption,
cyclicality and downturns in the semiconductor industry, continued dependence on
"turns" orders to achieve revenue objectives, the Company's ability to have an
appropriate amount of production capacity in a timely manner,
<PAGE>
CREDENCE ACQUIRES 3G WIRELESS TEST TECHNOLOGY COMPANY MODULATION INSTRUMENTS
Page 3 of 3
the timing of new technology, product introductions, the risk of early
obsolescence and the Company's ability to control expenses (including the
ability to identify and successfully institute additional cost-saving measures).
Further, the Company operates in an industry sector where securities
values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors
beyond the Company's control. Reference is made to the discussion of risk
factors detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q. The Company assumes no
obligation to update the information in this press release.
# # #
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.
