Munich, Germany – October 2, 2000 – Following its strategic goal to assume the lead in the fast growing communications market, Infineon Technologies (FSE/NYSE: IFX) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ardent Technologies, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, a supplier of high-bandwidth integrated circuits for local area network (LAN) switching systems. The cost of acquiring 100 percent of privately held Ardent in this share-based deal is US$ 42 million.

Ardent, a company with substantial expertise in LAN switching technology has a portfolio of high integration Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet switching devices targeted at the high volume market serving small-to-medium businesses (SMB). The company is actively developing additional products that offer even higher bandwidth and higher levels of functionality. These products, complemented by Infineon’s advanced LAN portfolio, will enable the company to extend its reach into the high-growth enterprise networking sector.

The acquisition will enable Infineon to penetrate the high-growth LAN switching market. The LAN switching market growth is driven by the ever-rising demand for bandwidth, increasing the requirements from the enterprise to grow its Internet and Intranet infrastructure. Dataquest (July 2000) identifies switches as the fastest growing segment of the LAN market with worldwide port shipment of LAN switches growing at a solid rate of 24 percent to over 181 million ports in 2003. With the LAN market rapidly moving into Gigabit speeds, Gigabit Ethernet is emerging at the core of today’s highest potential LAN switching market.

Ardent’s switching technology, which is highly complementary to Infineon’s high performance HarrierXT gateway solution and the innovative 10BaseS technology, will also be used in broadening Infineon’s networking product portfolio for residential, hospitality (hotels, hospitals), and multi-tenant/multi-dwelling units (MTU/MDU) markets.

“The acquisition of Ardent emphasizes Infineon’s goal to strengthen its communications expertise,” explained Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, President and CEO of Infineon Technologies. “This move follows our strategy to complement our portfolio with the know how and intellectual property of highly specialized design companies in fast growing market segments.”

“Integrating Ardent’s technology, products and employees within Infineon is a sound business decision. We can leverage Infineon’s complementary technologies, leading-edge manufacturing capability and process expertise, and worldwide distribution infrastructure to better serve our customers,“ said Daniel Wong, who will be President of Infineon Technologies Ardent, Inc.

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor solutions for applications in the wireless and wired communications markets, for the automotive and industrial sectors, for security systems and chip cards as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 1999 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 4.24 billion (US $ 4.51 billion) with about 26,000 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com

About Ardent

Ardent Technologies, Inc. is a semiconductor company developing high integration silicon devices for the networking and communications market. Ardent's initial products are targeted at the gigabit connectivity solutions in enterprise LAN and WAN applications. The company recently announced GeNX2000, its first product family of high performance, high bandwidth, gigabit ready switching devices for building mainstream enterprise LAN switches. Several OEMs are currently designing products based on the GeNX2000. These products are expected to be available during the fourth quarter of year 2000. Further information about the company and its products is available at the company’s web site www.ardentinc.com


This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events. These statements and all other statements that are not historical facts, are subject to factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Infineon and Ardent. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the expected date of closing of the acquisition and the potential benefits of the acquisition. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: the integration of Ardent’s and Infineon’s business; costs associated with the acquisition; the successful completion of the acquisition; including applicable regulatory requirements relating to the transaction; increased competition and technological changes in the industries in which Ardent and Infineon operate. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please, refer to Infineon’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.