News

CERAC acquired by Williams Advanced Materials

Valued CERAC Customers, Suppliers and Community Contacts:

For 41 years, CERAC has proudly built relationships with all of you based on strong commitments to quality, integrity, safety, and community and environmental stewardship. This tradition of pride and commitment continues as CERAC enters into a new era.

We are pleased to announce that CERAC has been acquired by Williams Advanced Materials Inc. (WAM) of Buffalo, NY, a subsidiary of publicly held Brush Engineered Materials Inc. (NYSE: BW). CERAC will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of WAM, continuing to manufacture specialty inorganic chemicals and thin film materials under the CERAC name at our facility in Milwaukee, WI. The experienced and dedicated CERAC workforce also remains in place, so your contacts at CERAC will not change. Bart Ott, CERAC's former V.P. of Sales and Marketing, has been appointed V.P and General Manager.

CERAC and WAM have worked together in a reciprocal customer-supplier relationship for many years, and combining our products, services and resources offers many advantages. Both companies have extensive experience in the thin film industry, each leaders in the markets they serve. Our customers and suppliers will benefit from a broader product line, new deposition services, access to expanded technical knowledge and added global sales and service channels. Our continuous improvement efforts and community interests will be strengthened with added resources available for technology and facility upgrades.

CERAC, inc. has been manufacturing specialty inorganic chemicals, evaporation materials and sputtering targets in Milwaukee, WI since 1964. Through a network of global sales and service channels, CERAC services industries such as precision optics, ophthalmics, semiconductor, laser and display technologies with standard and custom manufactured materials.

Beyond CERAC, Williams Advanced Materials manufactures precious, non-precious and specialty metal products at facilities in New York, California and Asia, and provides precision cleaning and reconditioning services for physical vapor deposition customers at facilities in the U.S. and Ireland. Major markets for WAM's products include magnetic and optical data storage, and the wireless, semiconductor, photonic and hybrid segments of the microelectronics markets. Its sales in 2004 were $165.7 million.

Brush Engineered Materials Inc. is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, supplies worldwide markets with beryllium products, alloy products, electronic products, precious metal products, and engineered material systems.

We, at CERAC, are truly excited about the future and pledge to further strengthen our commitment to the highest standards of quality under our new leadership. We thank you for the support you have given CERAC for the past 41 years and look forward to our continued relationship.

CERAC, inc. - A subsidiary of Williams Advanced Materials Inc


Media Contact:

Nora Biersack

Marketing Administrator

CERAC, inc.

Tel: 414-289-9800 x206

Email: marketing@cerac.com


Mike Pybus

P&T Consulting Ltd.

Tel: +44 (0) 1383 820135

Email: sales@pandt.net