UMC Group Announces Consolidation of Joint Ventures and Acceleration of Foundry Capacity Expansion

Company Set for Exponential Growth: Will Further Address Industry's Need for More Capacity

SUNNYVALE, CA and TAIPEI, TAIWAN, June 14, 1999- In an extraordinary session today, the respective boards of the Taiwan companies in UMC Group unanimously approved merging three joint venture companies and one publicly traded entity into the United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC). Today's board action is the beginning of the formal process in which United Semiconductor Corporation (USC), United Integrated Circuits Corporation (UICC), United Silicon Incorporated (USIC) and UTEK Semiconductor Corporation (UTEK) [2339] will be merged into United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) [2303]. Bob Tsao, Chairman of UMC Group, stated "This reorganization focuses our Taiwan-based fabs into a single more financially efficient and competitive organization, setting the stage for us to be the largest, most profitable, and most technologically advanced pure-play foundry in the world".

The corporate status of Nippon Foundry Incorporated (NFI) [NFI 6939 JP], the newest joint venture member of UMC Group and the first pure-play foundry in Japan, is unchanged by the reorganization. It retains its status as a member of UMC Group and as a publicly traded company in Japan.

This reorganization will enable UMC Group to accelerate capacity expansion plans forward by approximately 12 months, maintaining a rate of 45% per year in both 1999 and 2000, the highest rate of capacity expansion in the foundry industry. This expansion will be funded in those years with an average annual capital expenditure of $1.3B US, the largest in the foundry industry. This will bring UMC Group 0.25 micron and smaller capacity to 1.2M 8-inch wafers in 2000, raising previous capacity by 50%, in a decisive move to address the anticipated shortage in 0.25/0.18-micron foundry supply worldwide. Total capacity will be 2.4 M 8-inch equivalent wafers in 2000. John Hsuan, CEO of UMC Group explained, "Analysts are forecasting a reversal in the supply-demand balance for 0.25-micron foundry wafers in 2000, and that supply will get progressively tighter in 2001. We are already seeing this trend emerging in bookings at UMC Group for the second half of 1999. With this merger, we will better meet market trends and customer needs".

Along with capacity expansion, this change will also accelerate the foundry process technology rollout for 0.15 and 0.13-micron technologies; and the Group is committed to continue to be first in foundry production with the most advanced process technologies, as it was for both 0.25 and 0.18-micron. The Group is currently shipping approximately 25,000 0.25-micron 8-inch wafers/month. The top 4 graphics vendors have all committed to 0.18 tape-outs at UMC Group, adding their commitments to those of leading FPGA, chipset, and microprocessor vendors. In addition, 400+ Mhz microprocessors are currently in production using 0.18-micron UMC Group technology.

Moreover, operational efficiency gains in areas such as financial management, administration, and technology development will also benefit sales and customer service, enhancing UMC's responsiveness. Jim Kupec, President UMC Group (USA) commented, "Capacity enhancement is the first benefit that will come to customers with this merger, however, we are also convinced that this combination will allow us to offer even more seamless and competitive services to our customers worldwide".

The three affected joint ventures (USC, UICC, USIC) are privately held companies. Their shareholders will realize a rapid path to liquidity via this merger as they, along with the UTEK shareholders, become shareholders of the publicly traded UMC. A substantial investment return multiple is anticipated for all joint venture investors.

Consolidated revenues for the Group are anticipated to remain on plan for 1999 at $1.6B USD, up from $1.1B USD in 1998, a 45% increase, by far the biggest in the foundry industry. The financial position of the Group is also exceptionally strong. With cash assets of $1.6B USD, UMC Group is well positioned to execute the unprecedented capacity expansion plans described above.

UMC has a tradition of flexibility and quick decision-making to meet the demands of the rapidly changing landscape of the high technology world. The decision to abandon its position as Taiwan's leading integrated device manufacturer to become a dedicated wafer foundry was made in May of 1995. By September of the same year, UMC had announced the formation of three joint venture wafer foundry companies (USC, UICC, and USIC). UTEK was added to UMC Group in 1998, and NFI followed several months later. The current decision to merge the 5 Taiwan-based UMC Group foundries into one flagship company, UMC, was carried out within a similarly condensed period. Such rapid decision making has proven to be a significant competitive advantage for UMC throughout its history.

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