SILTERRA AND ESSENSIUM TO JOINTLY DEVELOP EUROPEAN CUSTOMERS

Kulim, Malaysia and Leuven, Belgium – Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and Essensium have agreed to jointly develop and support European semiconductor customers. Essensium will provide system-on-chip (SoC) design and silicon intellectual property (IP) development expertise to integrated device manufacturers (IDM) and fabless semiconductor companies in Europe. Silterra will provide world-class wafer manufacturing services to these customers.

Essensium, a provider of silicon integration services, is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. The company is a spin-off of leading international microelectronics and nanotechnology research consortium IMEC and has vast experience in wireless and complex system-on-chip design and system-in-package implementation.

“Essensium’s expertise in complex and advanced System-on-Chip design is a key differentiator in the semiconductor design service and IP space,” said Bruce Gray, Chief Executive Officer of Silterra. “As a team, Silterra and Essensium are in excellent position to provide seamless technical and manufacturing solutions to European customers and with the top-notch support level they demand.”

Europe, which accounts for almost twenty percent of the global semiconductor market, is a hotbed for innovative wireless and telecommunications technologies. Through the partnership, Essensium and Silterra are able to provide a complete turnkey solution, from high-level technical specifications to packaged components expeditiously and cost effectively.

Johan Danneels, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Essensium, stated: “Our unique capabilities and network of alliances enable us to provide high value-added design services to customers. Silterra is a strategic and reliable foundry partner that offers advanced process technologies that are great platforms for the applications where our customers excel.”

The companies have started to market each other’s products and services and plan to conduct joint marketing programs starting in the fourth quarter of 2005.


About Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.:
Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is a leading semiconductor wafer foundry that provides advanced foundry standard CMOS logic, high-voltage and mixed-signal/RF technologies. The company’s wafer fab has a designed capacity of 40,000 eight-inch wafers per month. Silterra, which is committed to world-class service and environmental friendliness, received Notable Mention in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Hibiscus Award competition for Environmental Performance in 2003. The company is ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certified. Silterra’s headquarters and factory are located in Kulim, Malaysia, and has offices in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), San Jose (California, USA) and Hsinchu (Taiwan). For additional information on Silterra or its services, please visit www.silterra.com.

About Essensium:
Essensium is a company located in Leuven, Belgium, that was created as a spin-off of the Interuniversity Micro-Electronics Center (IMEC) in Leuven. The commercial activity of Essensium is focused on system-level design where most value is added. Essensium’s team has accumulated significant experience in designing and testing complex, low power, wireless system-on-chip solutions and wants to leverage this know how for customers that lack the skills to develop their own highly integrated System-on-Chip solutions. Essensium differentiates itself also from traditional design houses as it will act as a fabless chip vendor, taking full responsibility for delivery of the silicon, tested and packaged, starting from high-level requirements specifications. For additional information on Essensium or its services please visit www.essensium.com.





Contact Information:

Silterra Contact
Steve Della Rocchetta
Tel: +1-408-530-0885
Email: sdr@silterra.com

Silterra Malaysia Media Contact
Andy See
Tel: +603-4256-2834
Email: andy@perceptionmanagement.com.my

Anupama Bhat
Tel: +603-4256-2834
Email: anupama@perceptionmanagement.com.my

Silterra U.S. Media Contact
Lawren Farber
Tel: +1-408-323-1618
Email: lfarber@2ndstorymedia.com

Joanna Laznicka
Tel: +1-408-245-5117
Email: joanna@2ndstorymedia.com


Essensium Contact
Edmond Janssens
Tel: +32 16-28 65 00
Email: edmond.janssens@essensium.com