Soitec announces receipt of a notification from the French market authority (the AMF)
Bernin, France, 14th August 2008 – Soitec, market leader in SOI (Silicon on Insulator) wafer material for the semi-conductor industry, announced today that it has been notified by the Autorité des marchés financiers, the agency charged with the supervision of the French financial markets, that two matters have been referred to the AMF Commission des sanctions for further deliberation.
It is thus alleged that the Company 1/ may have inappropriately included in its fiscal year 2006-2007 half year and annual accounts approximately 2 million Euros of State aides granted to the Company for research and development at a time when the EU Commission had yet to issue its final determination that the programs in question were in conformity with applicable EU State aide regulations (the EU Commission ultimately found these programs to be in conformity) and 2/ may have provided, in October 2006, indications concerning its anticipated operating margin for its 2006-2007 fiscal year to certain analysts without making such information available to the markets at large.
This referral follows an investigation into the company’s financial information and its securities market from 31st December 2005 that was opened in July 2007 by the Secretary General of the AMF and conducted by the Direction des enquêtes et de surveillance des marches.
Soitec firmly believes that its conduct has always been and remains in conformity with market regulations and generally accepted best practices and intends fully to contest these allegations before the Commission.
About Soitec:
Soitec is the world's leading supplier of engineered substrates for advanced microelectronics. The Group produces a wide range of advanced materials, especially silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers based on its Smart Cut™ technology—the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. SOI is currently seen as the platform of the future, paving the way to higher-performance, faster, and more economical chips.
Soitec currently produces over 80% of total SOI wafers produced world wide. Headquartered at Bernin in France, with two high-volume production units on site, Soitec also has offices in the US, Japan, and Taiwan, and a new production site is in the process of customer qualification in Singapore.
The Group has two other divisions: Picogiga International at Les Ulis in Paris and Tracit Technologies in Bernin. Picogiga is specialized in the development and manufacture of engineered substrates, from group III-V epitaxial semiconductor wafers and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers to composite substrates for the manufacture of high-frequency electronics and optoelectronic devices. Tracit is specialized in thin-film layer transfer technologies, used to manufacture engineered substrates for power ICs and microsystems, as well as generic circuit transfer technology for applications such as image sensors and 3D integration. Shares for the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris.
Soitec, Smart Cut and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I. TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies
For further information, please contact:
Relations Presse – H & B Communication
Mathieu Ferrié – Nadège Chapelin – Tel. 33 (0)1 58 18 32 49 - 45
Email : m.ferrie@hbcommunication.fr