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EXHIBIT 99.01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Fran Barsky
Investor Relations Manager
Cree, Inc.
(T) 919-313-5397
(F) 919-313-5452
email: [email protected]
CREE COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ULTRARF
SEMICONDUCTOR DIVISION OF SPECTRIAN CORPORATION
Durham, NC, January 2, 2001 - Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) today announced it
completed the acquisition of UltraRF, formerly a division of Spectrian
Corporation (Nasdaq: SPCT) on December 29, 2000. UltraRF designs, manufactures
and markets a complete line of LDMOS and bipolar radio frequency (RF) power
semiconductors, the critical component utilized in building power amplifiers for
wireless infrastructure applications. UltraRF, which will operate as a
wholly-owned Cree subsidiary, plans to expand its product offerings to include
RF power semiconductors based on Cree's proprietary silicon carbide (SiC)
technology.
At closing, Cree's UltraRF subsidiary acquired the assets of the UltraRF
business from Spectrian and assumed certain liabilities of the business. In
exchange, Cree issued to Spectrian 1,815,402 shares of Cree common stock plus
additional Cree shares worth $30 million. In addition, UltraRF entered into a
two-year supply agreement with Spectrian under which Spectrian will purchase
UltraRF products representing a significant portion of its anticipated needs.
Cree, UltraRF and Spectrian also entered into a one-year development agreement
under which Cree and UltraRF will work to develop high gain driver modules and
high efficiency power modules based on LDMOS materials and high power MESFET
components based on SiC materials. The acquisition will be accounted for as a
purchase transaction.
Neal Hunter, Chairman and CEO stated, "The combination of UltraRF and Cree
enables us to offer customers a range of high performance RF power components.
It gives us a broad technology platform, with LDMOS, SiC and gallium nitride
(GaN) capabilities unmatched in the industry today, from which to develop new RF
and microwave devices. The acquisition also strengthens Cree by adding a new
source of product revenues and by providing additional design, packaging and
distribution capabilities for our SiC-based products and the new SiC and
GaN-based devices we have under development."
North Carolina-based Cree, Inc. develops and manufactures semiconductor
materials and devices based on silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN) and
related compounds. The company's products include blue and green LEDs, RF power
transistors for use in wireless infrastructure applications, SiC crystals used
in the production of unique gemstones and SiC wafers sold for use in research
and development. Cree has new product initiatives based on its experience in SiC
and GaN-based semiconductors, including blue laser diodes for optical storage
applications, high frequency microwave devices for radar and other
communications systems, and power devices for power conditioning and switching.
For more information on Cree, visit http://www.cree.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those
indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors,
including our ability to integrate the operations of the combined companies
successfully, the risk that the combined companies may not achieve the results
expected, the risk that the costs of integrating the companies may be greater
than expected, continued growth in wireless communication and pauses in such
growth as are periodically experienced in the market, our ability to manufacture
new or existing products in sufficient quantity or quality, worldwide economic
conditions and other factors discussed in our report on Form 10-K for the year
ended June 25, 2000 and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
