Cabot Microelectronics Materials Division Breaks Ground On New Headquarters in Aurora's Meridian Office Park.

AURORA, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 1998--

Leading Semiconductor Materials Supplier to Increase

Local Workforce by 150 Percent

Cabot Corporation's Microelectronics Materials Division (MMD), the leading global supplier of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries to the semiconductor industry, today announced that it has broken ground on a new corporate headquarters facility in the Meridian Office Park in Aurora, Ill.

The new 65,000-square-foot facility will allow Cabot to expand its product development, applications support and customer service operations by 70 percent and increase manufacturing by 25 percent, enabling the company to meet increasing demand for its current and next-generation slurry products. Over the next three years, Cabot MMD expects to increase its local workforce by more than 150 percent.

Commenting on Cabot's decision to expand its infrastructure in the Aurora area, the Honorable David Stover, mayor of Aurora commented, "Cabot's decision to remain in Aurora will benefit the company as well as our city. We are confident that Aurora can continue to contribute to Cabot's impressive growth record by affording an ideal location to support technical innovation."

Stover added, "Situated in Illinois' 'Silicon Prairie,' Aurora has become a center for research and development and has attracted international business, thanks in part to the close proximity of such prestigious research and educational institutions as the Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, the Illinois Math and Science Academy and the University of Chicago."

In response to the burgeoning demand for CMP process solutions, Cabot MMD is making the key capital expenditures needed to ramp manufacturing capacity. Cabot MMD's Vice President and General Manager Matthew Neville commented, "This new facility demonstrates Cabot MMD's commitment to meeting our customers' CMP requirements -- now and in the future."

Commenting on Cabot's earlier expansion in the United States and its new facility in Japan, Neville added, "These expansions will allow us to keep pace with our continuing double-digit annual growth rate, which Cabot MMD has achieved since it was established three years ago."

Cabot MMD's new headquarters will include 40,000 square feet dedicated to product development, customer service and applications support, as well as executive and administrative offices. Another 25,000 square feet will house manufacturing space, including a Class 1,000 cleanroom, where Cabot's high-purity slurries will be manufactured.

The new site is in close proximity to Cabot's current headquarters, where the manufacture of slurry products will continue, and is situated on nearly 12 acres, which affords the company additional land for future expansion.

The new facility, which will be constructed by Krusinski Construction Co., a 25-year-old general contractor based in the Chicago area and specializing in the building and renovation of commercial and industrial properties, will be completed in August 1999.

This latest announcement is another component in Cabot MMD's strategy of expanding capacity and services to keep pace with customer demand. The new headquarters augments the company's existing manufacturing capabilities in Aurora, Ill.; Hammond, Ind.; Barry, Wales; and its new 42,000-square-foot facility in Geino, Mie, Japan, which is scheduled for completion in January 1999.

About Cabot MMD

Cabot Corporation Microelectronics Materials Division, headquartered in Aurora, Ill., is the leading global supplier of CMP slurries for polishing oxide, tungsten, copper and aluminum in semiconductor manufacturing processes, and commands more than an 80 percent share of the market. Cabot MMD is a division of Cabot Corp., a 115-year-old company that operates 39 plants in 23 countries.

About Cabot Corp.

Cabot Corporation (www.cabot-corp.com) is a global performance materials company, with specialized skills in the production, handling and surface chemistry of fine particles that provide performance benefits to customers in a variety of markets, including automotive, industrial, electronics, coatings, inks and energy.

Major products at Cabot are carbon black, fumed silica, inkjet colorants, polishing slurries for integrated circuits, capacitor materials and plastics masterbatches. The company also operates a liquefied natural gas business. Cabot had revenues of $1.6 billion in 1997.

About Krusinski Construction Co.

Established in 1973, Krusinski Construction Co. is a full-service general contractor based in Westchester, Ill. The company works with major developers and national and local corporate clients on a wide range of industrial, distribution, manufacturing, office, retail and tenant build-out projects in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Note to Editors: Aurora, Ill., is 40 miles west of Chicago and has a population of 125,000. USA Today recently reported that Aurora is the 25th fastest-growing city (with a population of over 100,000) in the United States, with a growth rate of 16.8 percent.