Singapore -- November 8, 1995 -- Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of integrated circuits, announced today the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art wafer fabrication plant. Estimated at a cost of $1 billion, Fab II at full capacity can produce 30,000 eight-inch wafers per month in 0.6 to 0.2 micron processes.

Fab II features a 70,000 square-foot clean room built with SMIF class-1 mini-environment, which provides an efficient and cost-effective method to achieve high levels of cleanliness and wafer yields. Fab II is operated by approximately 600 highly-skilled workers. Several customers are already in production or are in the process of qualification.

" We are extremely pleased with the Fab II project," said Dwight Decker, president of Rockwell Semiconductor Systems. "Chartered has beaten all the commitments made at the time of our sign-up, and we are currently receiving production volume ahead of schedule and with worldclass yields. We consider ourselves fortunate to have Chartered as a long-term, high-performance partner."

Actel Corporation, Analog Devices, Alliance Semiconductor, Brooktree Corporation, LSI Logic, Rockwell and Standard Microsystems Corporation have each made an equity investment in CSM in return for capacity in Fab II. Toshiba Corporation of Japan has entered into a technology partnership with CSM for process development of 0.5 micron linewidths. In addition, CSM has signed a multiyear wafer supply and consulting agreement with VLSI Technology, Inc.

CSM has also begun construction of a third foundry, which is scheduled to open in 1997. Fab III will be located next to Fab II at the northern tip of Singapore, across from Malaysia. When fully operational, Fab III will be capable of producing 33,000 eight-inch wafers per month. The fab is designed to migrate to 0.18 micron design rules.

CSM manufactures a full complement of advanced CMOS processes ranging from 1.0 to 0.5 micron linewidths and below. The company offers a variety of technologies, including digital, analog, SRAM, ROM, Flash EPROM and E2PROM in high-volume production. In addition, CSM offers its customers a full turnkey solution from mask generation to delivery of finished packaged parts.

CSM is a member company of Singapore Technologies Semiconductor (STS), which is a strategic business division of Singapore Technologies. STS consists of four companies, which provide a comprehensive range of services for the worldwide semiconductor industry: design, wafer fabrication, assembly and test, marketing and distribution.