Photronics Plans Major Chinese Expansion

SHANGHAI, China, March 4 -- Photronics Inc. has signed a land grant agreement with officials from the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Corp. The company established Photronics International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. in Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone last year and has been operating an office in Pudong. The recently approved new company, Photronics Imaging Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., a wholly owned foreign enterprise, intends to build an advanced reticle fabrication facility in the Zhangjiang Semiconductor Industrial Park.

Over the next five years, Photronics plans to deploy approximately $300 million in infrastructure and advanced photomask manufacturing technologies necessary to support China's rapidly growing semiconductor and wafer foundry industries. Construction of the photomask fabrication facility will begin early in the second half of this year and should be completed early in the first quarter of 2003.