Brooks Automation Enters Agreement to Acquire Progressive Technologies, Inc.

Business/Technology Editors

CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2001

A World Leader in High-End Airflow and Pressure Control is a

Significant Addition to Brooks Automation's Factory Interface

Offerings

Brooks Automation, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKS) today announced the signing of a purchase and sale agreement for the acquisition of Progressive Technologies, Inc. (PTI), a leading manufacturer of high-precision air flow and pressure control systems for semiconductor processing, headquartered in Tewksbury, MA. The deal is structured as a pooling of interests transaction with a total value of approximately $31.5M. PTI will become a business unit within Brooks' Factory Interface Division. The deal is expected to close by the middle of July.

Since its founding in 1986, PTI has established preeminence in the marketplace for high-precision airflow and pressure controls in key semiconductor manufacturing applications, such as track, furnace and wet stations. PTI's technology is focused on controlling pressure inside atmospheric process tools by regulating the tool exhaust airflow with a unique patented "floating piston" control module. Conventional controllers either rely on regulating upstream fan speed or rely on reactive technologies (dampers and butterfly valves) which are slow to correct airflow fluctuations. By contrast, PTI products are designed to maintain constant pressure with very fast response time, simultaneously minimizing particle contaminants, reducing energy consumption, and improving operator safety for the semiconductor manufacturer. As semiconductor manufacturing continues to trend toward smaller geometries, PTI's exhaust control systems should be increasingly demanded by engineers in new and refurbished fabrication facilities to improve end-product efficacy and overall profitability.

"The PTI acquisition is an important part of Brooks Automation's strategy for the factory interface market segment", said Robert J. Therrien, President and CEO of Brooks Automation. "PTI's precision exhaust controllers provide much better response time, better stability and less energy consumption than traditional pressure controllers do. As a result, PTI dominates the precision airflow and pressure control segment for semiconductor equipment. When combined with our strong mini-environment technology and capability, Brooks should be able to deliver mini-environment solutions with higher performance at lower cost than the competition. In addition, Brooks historically has been a strong automation supplier to vacuum and metrology process segments, but less so in the track, furnace, lithography and wet bench segments. The PTI acquisition will allow Brooks to gain a beach head in these high volume atmospheric process segments for expanding our scope of supply to include tool controls, load ports and robotics."

"PTI's founders and senior management team have played a pioneering role in the high precision industrial airflow control sector and we collectively have over 40 years experience within this industry", said David W. Palmer, President, CEO and founder of PTI. "PTI's senior managers are individually recognized as experts in the properties, physics, and theory of air turbulence and hold a unique understanding and perspective on our market applications and on our customers. The multidisciplinary background of our management group has uniquely enabled the company to address its targeted niche markets and provide flexible solutions to its customers through application specific enhancements to a proprietary, standardized line of products. We are delighted to find a similar structure in Brooks and look forward to being part of a world class leader in semiconductor automation."

About PTI

PTI specializes in the design and development of innovative airflow control solutions. PTI's patented technology is based on a passive control system that operates on the energy of moving air and responds instantly to correct flow fluctuations. PTI's technology is a leap ahead of conventional technology, such as dampers or mechanical butterfly valves and the result is improved safety, higher yield and energy conservation. The company's vision is to expand the same service, enabling the industries served to safely reach new production capabilities and environmental conservation goals by optimized efficiency through PTI's Facility Air Balancing Systems (FABS). FABS is a solution, which can dramatically optimize entire clean rooms by safely downscaling costly exhaust scrubbing and make-up air production. The company's website is www.ptiworldwide.com.

Brooks Automation, Inc.

Brooks Automation, Inc. is the leading global supplier of OEM tool automation and factory management software for the semiconductor, data storage and flat panel display manufacturing industries. As an established market leader in hardware and software automation, Brooks continues to pioneer "Best-in-Class" technologies that outperform their competitors - from vacuum and atmospheric robots, cluster tool platforms and modules, ultra-clean mini-environments for isolating processing equipment and wafers - to factory and tool automation software and integration services. Both OEM and fab customers leverage Brooks Automation's products and environments. The Company has ISO 9001 certification, is headquartered in Chelmsford, MA and has direct operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. Brooks' web-site is www.brooks.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

The foregoing discussion contains forward-looking statements related to future financial results. The Company cannot guarantee that it will complete the acquisition of PTI. The acquisition is subject to PTI's shareholder approval and satisfaction of other closing conditions. The forward-looking statements involve several other known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks relating to the benefits to Brooks Automation of purchasing PTI, the continued success of PTI in the marketplace, the ease of integrating PTI into the Brooks business unit structure, the Company's dependence on the cyclical semiconductor industry, the Company's dependence on relatively few customers for a significant portion of its revenues, the Company's reliance on sales to OEM customers and the lengthy sales cycles of those customers, the ability of the Company to continue to successfully develop and market new products and product enhancements on a timely basis, the ability to integrate recent acquisitions into the Company, the highly competitive nature and rapid technological change that characterize the industries in which the Company competes, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, there can be no assurance that the Company's future results will not be materially different than those projected. The Company also operates in an industry sector where securities' values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the Company's control. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only of the Company's expectations as of the date of this press release. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.