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Vestar Capital and the Carlyle Group partner in AZ Electronic Materials

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Global private equity firms, Vestar Capital Partners and The Carlyle Group, announced that they have partnered in an investment in AZ Electronic Materials.

Global private equity firms, Vestar Capital Partners and The Carlyle Group, announced that they have partnered in an investment in AZ Electronic Materials. The company, previously acquired by Carlyle from Clariant in 2004, will now be jointly owned by Vestar and Carlyle as equal partners, alongside AZ's management team led by CEO Thomas von Krannichfeldt. Subject to regulatory approvals, the acquisition is anticipated to close by the end of March. Financial details were not disclosed. In September 2006, AZ announced a commitment to invest €50 million over the next 15 months in development and expansion programmes to increase production capacity for its customers and ensure it continues to provide the highest quality of products. This includes a €13 million investment in Japan, to expand its manufacturing capacity for polysilazane (PHPS), and the significant expansion of its photoresist facility and production in Hsinchu, Taiwan with an investment of NTD 256 million (€6.25 million), and a €7 million investment in our IC business in the US, including a significant expansion of our Klebosol plant in Martin, South Carolina.

"We are thrilled with the tremendous success of our investment in AZ over the past three years and are delighted to remain as a substantial investor in the company going forward," said Robert Easton, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group. "The company's growth trajectory has been outstanding and we are confident about the company's continued growth across all of the company's major product lines. We are delighted to welcome Vestar as partners in this investment. Together with Vestar we plan to continue to invest significantly in the business and to build value as AZ executes on its proven growth strategies."

Robert Rosner, President of Vestar Capital Partners Europe and a founding partner of the firm added, "the combination of our two firm's resources and global footprints with established presence in Europe, the US and Asia make us ideally matched to support AZ's management team as they drive their business growth going forward. We are committed to supporting the company with both financial resources and the time and expertise needed to achieve the company's growth plans, as it follows its customers' increasing production needs throughout the world."

Jean-Francois Felix, Vestar Managing Director based in Paris, added, "This is an extraordinarily impressive management team who has guided the company to strong market positions in categories that clearly have a lot of wind at their back. It has all the ingredients to be a particularly successful partnership and investment for Vestar."

AZ CEO Thomas von Krannichfeldt commented. "We are delighted with this next chapter in the growth story of AZ Electronic Materials. We have two very strong shareholders in Carlyle and Vestar, both with resources dedicated to our global markets. This transaction enables us to continue to grow our business as an independent company and to ensure the business is a strong and sustainable company on the global market. All of the members of our senior management team are excited about our future under this attractive new partnership."

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