Kyocera acquires Tycom, announces merger

<%=company1%> says its wholly-owned U.S. headquarters, Kyocera International Inc. (KII), has reached a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Tycom Corp., a supplier of carbide cutting tools for the printed circuit board (PCB) industry.

The acquisition will be effected through a merger of a subsidiary of KII into Tycom, subject to U.S. regulatory approval. Terms of the merger, which is expected to be consummated by Feb. 28, 2001, were not disclosed.

Tycom is said to control the largest share of the North American market and the second largest market share globally for cutting tools for electronics. The company is both a manufacturer and a provider of engineering services.

"By combining our resources and energies, we are confident that we will solidify Tycom's leading position in North America while dramatically expanding our share in the high-growth markets of Japan and Asia," said KII president Rodney N. Lanthorne, a senior managing and representative director of Kyocera Corp. "Together with our existing ceramic and cermet-based indexable inserts for the metalworking segment, we aim to become one of the top three producers of all types of industrial cutting tools worldwide." The new business unit will operate separately from Kyocera's existing cutting tools business, however.

Kyocera America, Inc., 8611 Balboa Avenue, San Diego, CA 92123-1580 USA. Tel: 858-576-2600.

<%=company1%>, 100 Industrial Park Road, PO Box 678, Mountain Home, NC 28758 USA. Tel: 800-823-7284. Fax: 828-692-1344.

With contribution from Jim Destefani
Managing Editor, Tooling Online
Source: Kyocera Industrial Ceramics Corp.