Singapore National Environment Agency Offers Grant to UMC for Using Edwards’ Environmentally-Friendly Dry Vacuum Pump

SINGAPORE & CRAWLEY, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edwards Group Limited (NASDAQ: EVAC), a leading manufacturer of sophisticated vacuum products and abatement systems and a leading provider of related value-added services, today announced that United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) (NYSE: UMC/TWSE: 2303) has received a grant offer from Singapore National Environment Agency. The Grant of Energy Efficiency Technologies (GREET) incentive is being offered for UMC’s use of Edwards’ environmentally-friendly iXL120 dry vacuum pump.

“As a responsible corporate citizen, UMC is constantly upgrading its facilities to achieve greener, more sustainable manufacturing”

According to Kirel Tang, General Manager for Edwards’ Southeast Asia operations, “We worked closely with the Singapore Branch of UMC on their submission. We are delighted that they achieved this recognition, which is the first for a vacuum pump, and we look forward to a partnership of continued success.”

As part of their long-standing relationship, Edwards and UMC’s Singapore Branch worked collaboratively to apply for this grant. Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) sanctioned this grant under the GREET (Grant for Energy Efficient Technologies) project. With the offer of this grant, Edwards’ iXL120 is the first dry vacuum pump to gain this recognition for its environmentally friendly operation.

The iXL120 replaces older-generation Edwards’ pumps, and will decrease operating costs by reducing energy consumption and maintenance requirements. Their selection process included a competitive evaluation of pumps from various vendors.

“As a responsible corporate citizen, UMC is constantly upgrading its facilities to achieve greener, more sustainable manufacturing,” said Johnson Liu, Fab Operation Director at UMC’s Fab 12i in Singapore. “The transition to the Edwards iXL120 pump is not only expected to result in more environmentally friendly production for Fab 12i, but will help us reduce operating costs as well.”

The compact, low energy iXL120 dry vacuum pump is one of the smallest and lightest pumps available for load-lock and clean applications. The pumps’ Green Mode, in which power consumption is reduced by up to 95 percent, helps lower both cost-of-ownership and environmental impact. The high-throughput pump provides the fastest pump-down in its class; while its low energy consumption, small footprint and minimal maintenance requirements help to reduce its overall cost-of-ownership. Please visit: www.edwardsvacuum.com for more information about the iXL120 dry vacuum pump.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC’s customer-driven foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the company's leading-edge processes, which include 28nm poly-SiON and gate-last high-K/metal gate technology, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i. Fab 12A consists of phases 1-4, which are in production for customer products down to 28nm. Construction is underway for phases 5&6, with future plans for phases 7&8. The company employs over 13,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at www.umc.com.

About Edwards

Edwards is a leading manufacturer of sophisticated vacuum products and abatement systems and a leading provider of related value-added services for the manufacture of semiconductors, flat panel displays, LEDs and solar cells and a leader in vacuum technology for industrial, pharmaceutical, chemical, scientific, process, glass coating and food packaging industries as well as a wide range of R&D applications.

Edwards has over 3,300 full-time employees and over 600 temporary workers operating in approximately 30 countries worldwide engaged in the design, manufacture and support of high technology vacuum and exhaust management equipment.

Edwards’ American Depositary Shares trade on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol EVAC. Further information about Edwards can be found at www.edwardsvacuum.com.