Acquisition

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain
30 October 2000


        Saint-Gobain expands its offering to the Semiconductor Industry

The Ceramics & Plastics Branch of Saint-Gobain has finalized the acquisition of
Holz Precision Inc., a full service supplier of manufactured components and
assemblies to OEMs in the semiconductor capital equipment industry. The company,
headquartered in San Jose, California, is a leading provider of precision
machined parts, assemblies and advanced manufacturing services used in the
production of integrated circuits. Holz Precision has four manufacturing sites,
three in the Silicon Valley (San Jose, Fremont, Milpitas) and one in Texas
(Austin).

Its annual sales approximate $100 million.

With this acquisition, the Ceramics & Plastics Branch of Saint-Gobain, already a
manufacturer of quartz, sapphire, high performance ceramics and plastics
components for OEMs and integrated circuit fabricators, expands its offering to
complex assemblies.

Holz Precision's 30 years' experience, know how and technical expertise will
allow Saint-Gobain to provide a global offering of materials, assembling and
services to meet high-quality and high-speed requirements from OEMs.


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