Brooks Automation Signs Purchase Agreement with Tower Semiconductor Ltd.

Business/Technology Editors

CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 2000

Brooks will provide Tower with adapted SMIF interfaces, mini-environments, wafer sorters, lot identification and lot tracking

systems, for its new 200mm fab in Israel.

Brooks Automation, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRKS), a leader in tool and factory automation solutions for the global semiconductor industry, announced today that it has received a multi-million dollar purchase agreement from Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ: TSEM) for the implementation of Ergospeed II(TM) and Iridnet(TM), Brooks' integrated SMIF and Lot Tracking System, and for Brooks' SPS 3000(TM) multicassette sorting system for 200mm wafer management. Tower's selection of Brooks, completed after a rigorous evaluation, was based on Brooks' excellent product performance and project deployment record. Brooks Automation's broad product portfolio was also key, as it gives Tower the opportunity to source from a single supplier a totally integrated automation solution. The purchase agreement calls for intial support of a pilot line in fab2, worth approximately $3 Million, followed by fab-wide implementation over the next several years, for a grand total award in excess of $20 million.

"Brooks' focus on quality, its responsiveness to customer needs, and the depth and breadth of Brooks' technology and product line were all factors influencing our choice," said Dr. Rafi Levin, Tower's Co-CEO. "Tower and Brooks share similar manufacturing philosophies. We are both committed to quality management as a means of ensuring the highest levels of performance."

"Our customers succeed because we are committed to their success, and we provide them with technology that has been proven to optimize factory performance while keeping manufacturing costs under control. Our ability to integrate our system into a total factory automation solution is world-class and unique in the market. We look forward to working with Tower to ensure its success with our system," said Robert J. Therrien, President and CEO of Brooks Automation, Inc.

Brooks Automation, Inc.

Brooks Automation, Inc. is a leading supplier of integrated automation solutions for the global 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 services to optimize total fab performance in dynamic manufacturing environments. The Company has ISO 9001 certification, is headquartered in Chelmsford, MA and has direct operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Brooks' web site is www.brooks.com.

Tower Semiconductor Ltd.

Tower is an advanced independent foundry manufacturer of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) on silicon wafers. Tower acquired its facility near Migdal Haemek, Israel, from National Semiconductor in March 1993 and commenced operations as an independent foundry at that time. As a foundry, Tower provides IC design, manufacturing and turnkey services using advanced production capabilities and the proprietary IC designs of its customers. Tower specializes in providing solutions for embedded non-volatile memory devices, CMOS image sensors, and mixed signal devices. Beyond its technical capabilities, Tower is renowned for its high quality customer support. The Tower web site address is www.towersemi.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The foregoing discussion contains forward-looking statements relating to the expected benefits of the Brooks Automation products sold to Tower Semiconductor Ltd., an Israeli company. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the risk of not converting the pilot project into additional business for Brooks, risks relating to the manner in which the customer uses the products and integrates the products with other components, the Company's dependence on the cyclical semiconductor industry, the ability of the Company to continue to successfully develop and market new products and product enhancements on a timely basis, 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 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 from those projected. 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.