KLA-Tencor Announces Intent to Acquire Belgium's
ICOS Vision Systems

(Announcement made in accordance with article 8 of the Belgian royal
             decree of April 27, 2007 on takeover bids)

       KLA-Tencor's Global Market Presence to Help Accelerate
   ICOS's Growth and Expand KLA-Tencor in Solar and Other Emerging
                               Markets

SAN JOSE,  California, and  LEUVEN,  Belgium -  February 21,  2008  -
KLA-Tencor  Corporation  (NASDAQ:  KLAC)  and  ICOS  Vision   Systems
Corporation NV (Euronext: IVIS) today jointly announced an  agreement
under which KLA-Tencor will make  a friendly tender offer to  acquire
ICOS in a cash transaction valued at ?36.50 per share. KLA-Tencor  is
the leading  supplier  of inspection  and  metrology systems  to  the
global  semiconductor  industry;  ICOS  is  a  leading  supplier   of
packaging and interconnect inspection solutions for the semiconductor
industry, and has a market  leadership position in the inspection  of
photovoltaic solar technologies and LED lighting products.

The transaction is expected to  close in the second calendar  quarter
of 2008 and is subject to  the following closing conditions: (a)  the
acceptance of  the  offer  by  holders of  at  least  85%  of  ICOS's
outstanding shares, (b)  ICOS not having distributed any new dividend
to its shareholders prior to completion of the bid, (c) the bid  must
not be subject  to review  by any  governmental authority  regulating
antitrust, competition or merger control matters in any  jurisdiction
beyond the initial phase of  review for the applicable  jurisdiction,
and (d) the absence  of any material adverse  change with respect  to
ICOS.  The  board of  directors of ICOS  has confirmed  that it  will
issue a  favorable opinion  on  the bid  (subject  to the  filing  by
KLA-Tencor with the Belgian "Commissie  voor het Bank-, Financie-  en
Assurantiewezen/Commission bancaire, financière et des assurances" of
a final prospectus  compliant with all  applicable requirements)  and
that any board members holding  ICOS shares will tender their  shares
in the offer.

The net transaction value (excluding treasury shares and net of cash)
is  ?316.9 million (approximately  $465.8 million).  The  transaction
value represents a 35% premium to the average closing price of ICOS's
shares over the preceding 90-days.  In addition, as part of the  bid,
KLA-Tencor will offer  to purchase  at the bid  price, under  certain
circumstances,  the  ICOS  shares  underlying  all  outstanding  2002
employee stock  options  and  2007  employee  warrants.    KLA-Tencor
expects for the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share  in
the first year.

"ICOS has exceptional  synergy with  KLA-Tencor in  both markets  and
technologies, and would provide us with additional opportunities  for
both  growth  and  diversification,"   said  Rick  Wallace,  CEO   of
KLA-Tencor. "Our  two  companies  serve adjacent  markets  and  offer
complementary technologies, making this a good fit for both  parties,
and we believe that ICOS's growth  potential will be even greater  as
part of  KLA-Tencor.    This  acquisition  would  give  KLA-Tencor  a
significant presence in semiconductor  packaging inspection, as  well
as in fast-growing markets like  solar and LED lighting, setting  the
stage for  ongoing  growth  outside KLA-Tencor's  primary  market  in
semiconductor fab operations."

ICOS's primary business is the  design and manufacture of  inspection
equipment for semiconductor packaging and interconnect  applications.
ICOS's systems  also perform  inspection of  solar wafers  and  solar
cells at different stages of production enabling solar  manufacturers
to effectively  monitor  the  production  process.    The  inspection
modules allow fast, efficient and reliable optical classification  of
solar cells at the different stages of the production flow.

Anton De Proft, ICOS's president  and chief executive officer,  said,
"I believe that combining the strengths of KLA-Tencor and ICOS  would
significantly increase our  growth potential  and provide  remarkable
resources for advanced technical development of our existing products
and technologies.  Both companies  have highly  complementary  market
positions, with no overlap in product lines."

About KLA-Tencor:  KLA-Tencor is the world leader in yield management
and process  control solutions  for semiconductor  manufacturing  and
related industries.    Headquartered  in San  Jose,  California,  the
Company has sales and service offices  around the world.  An S&P  500
company, KLA-Tencor  is traded  on the  NASDAQ Global  Select  Market
under the symbol KLAC.   Additional information about the Company  is
available at http://www.kla-tencor.com.

About ICOS: ICOS  designs and manufactures  inspection equipment  for
semiconductor  packaging  and  interconnect  applications.  It  is  a
world-leading supplier  of equipment  for  the visual  inspection  of
IC's, before  they are  used in  various applications  such as  PC's,
portable  phones   or  cars.   ICOS's   systems  perform   two-   and
three-dimensional (2D  and  3D)  inspection of  IC's,  wafers,  solar
cells, substrates, sockets, etc.  ICOS offers stand-alone  inspection
systems, as  well  as inspection  modules  for integration.  ICOS  is
headquartered in  Leuven, Belgium  and has  R&D centers  in  Belgium,
Germany and Hong Kong, sales and  support offices in Japan, the  USA,
Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and  Taiwan and production facilities  in
Belgium, Hong Kong and China.  Additional information on the  Company
is available at http://www.icos.be.

Forward Looking Statements:  Statements  in this press release  other
than historical facts, such  as statements regarding the  anticipated
timing of the closing of  the transaction, the anticipated impact  of
the  transaction  on  KLA-Tencor's  financial  statements,  and   the
potential  benefits  that  may  result  from  the  transaction,   are
forward-looking statements,  and  are  subject  to  the  Safe  Harbor
provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.  These  forward-looking   statements  are   based  on   current
information and  expectations,  and involve  a  number of  risks  and
uncertainties.  Actual  results  may  differ  materially  from  those
projected in such  statements due to  various factors, including  but
not limited  to  those  associated with  demand  for  the  companies'
respective product lines; the results of product development efforts;
the success of product  offerings to meet  customer needs within  the
timeframes required by  customers in these  markets; disruption  from
the  proposed  acquisition  making  it  more  difficult  to  maintain
relationships with customers, vendors  and employees; the failure  to
obtain and retain expected  synergies from the proposed  acquisition;
the failure of  ICOS shareholders  to tender a  sufficient number  of
shares to satisfy the minimum acceptance closing condition; delays in
obtaining,  or  adverse   conditions  contained   in,  any   required
regulatory approvals; failure to consummate or delay in  consummating
the proposed  acquisition  for  other reasons,  changes  in  laws  or
regulations; and other similar factors.   For other factors that  may
cause actual results  to differ materially  from those projected  and
anticipated in  forward-looking statements  in this  release,  please
refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year  ended
June 30, 2007, subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q  and
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including,
but not limited to, the risk factors described therein).

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