Kitakyushu-City, Fukuoka Pref., Japan, May 8, 2006 – YASKAWA Electric Corporation (President: Koji Toshima; Head office: Kitakyushu-City, Fukuoka Pref. Japan; “YASKAWA”), and Brooks Automation, Inc. (President and CEO: Edward C. Grady; Head office: Chelmsford, Mass. USA; “Brooks”), today announced their intention to enter into a strategic alliance covering the establishment of a joint venture company in Japan and acquisition of Synetics Solutions Inc. (CEO: Gregory A. Marvell; Head office: Portland, OR, USA; “Synetics”) by Brooks. YASKAWA and Brooks will coordinate their resources to enhance their collective automation product offerings and capabilities for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, as well as improve efficiencies of their respective operations. The agreement was approved by the Board of Directors of both companies. The agreement may be subject to regulatory approvals.

YASKAWA has been exploring options to further improve its position as the robotics automation solution provider to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market. To improve both market position and profitability at the same time, YASKAWA sought a competent, global partner with complementary strategies, product lines and wherewithal to handle customers from components to systems.

YASKAWA views Brooks as a well recognized market leader in vacuum robotics and systems for the semiconductor industry. Brooks had also been exploring options to strengthen its position in the Japanese market as a critical part of its global business strategy for the growing Pan-Asian market. In Brooks, YASKAWA saw complementary product and business strategies that would enhance both positions in the market and efficiencies in respective operations from development to field services.

The alliance aims to combine the respective strengths of YASKAWA and Brooks, in atmospheric and vacuum automation systems. YASKAWA provides superior wafer transfer robotics solutions for the atmospheric environment, drawing from its globally leading industrial robots and mechatronics heritage. Brooks is a recognized worldwide leader in wafer transfer robots and systems in vacuum environment. By focusing resources on its respective strength, both companies seek to improve efficiencies from development to production, while working to meet the increasingly challenging market requirements in a timely manner.

In the global market place, Brooks will gain access to YASKAWA’s sales network through the Japanese joint venture. Through this sales network, rich in experience, Brooks will be able to increase its market presence with Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers. At the same time in USA, the alliance will maximize the synergy in system manufacturing by bringing Synetics under Brooks. To better respond to increasing needs for outsourcing, Brooks will add Synetics to its already well established system business. YASKAWA will supply its atmospheric robots and related automation systems for the North American market to Brooks.

 Edward C. Grady, president and chief executive officer of Brooks, said “We have been looking to increase our market presence in Japan for many years and are very pleased to announce this joint venture with YASKAWA, creating a wonderful opportunity for both companies to address the world’s second largest market for semiconductor tool automation. YASKAWA is a well-recognized and respected brand name in Japan and has a strong network of sales, service and applications engineering capabilities. Together, I believe that Brooks and YASKAWA can better serve our customers and expand our business in Japan by offering the best of each company’s technology and through a dedicated support organization for those products. In addition, Brooks has strengthened our customer designed automation, business through our purchase of Synetics, a leading manufacturer of custom systems for tier one semiconductor equipment companies. We expect Synetics to be accretive with synergies in the first year.”,

Details of the Synetics sale transaction will be available at a later date, as the disclosure conditions are cleared.

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YASKAWA Electric Corporation

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