News

Kyocera America, Inc. Purchases VisPro Corporation

San Diego, CA — January 14, 2000 — Kyocera America, Inc. announced today the purchase of VisPro Corporation, a supplier of LTCC multi-layer ceramic substrates and structural ceramic components.

“VisPro Corporation is one of the largest suppliers of embedded passive technologies. Their achievements in multilayering and interconnection are unsurpassed, producing packages with over 100 circuit layers and in excess of 84,000 vias. With the increasing demand for this technology, the purchase reinforces Kyocera’s position of providing leading-edge packaging solutions,” said David Grooms, President of Kyocera America, Inc.

“This purchase allows both companies to offer a unique set of advantages to the marketplace. Kyocera’s expertise in design, materials and high volume manufacturing are well known in the industry, while VisPro is unmatched in providing quick cycle times and medium-volume production,” said Steve Annas, President of VisPro Corporation.

Effective January 12, 2000, VisPro has become a new division of Kyocera America, Inc. The new division’s 60 employees will continue to operate out of their Beaverton, Oregon facility. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

VisPro was formed in February 1994 as a spin-off of Tektronix, Inc.

Kyocera America, Inc. designs, manufactures and assembles a broad range of electronic packaging solutions for the telecommunications and semiconductor markets based on advanced ceramic and organic material technologies. The company's products and services support many applications including broadband telecommunications, mobile and satellite communications, surveillance systems, sensors, automotive electronics, medical devices, computers and consumer electronic goods.

Kyocera America, Inc.'s primary manufacturing facility and operational headquarters are located in San Diego, CA, with sales offices and design centers throughout the United States. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyocera International, Inc. of San Diego, the North American regional holding company for Kyoto, Japan-based Kyocera Corporation (NYSE: KYO).

Kyocera Corporation, the group's global parent, employs 37,000 people in 25 nations and recorded consolidated sales of $6.1 billion during the year ended March 31, 1999.