Cree, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Gallium Nitride Substrate and Epitaxy Business from ATMI, Inc.

Cree, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Gallium Nitride Substrate and
Epitaxy Business from ATMI, Inc. 


DURHAM, N.C., April 6  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cree, Inc.  today announced
that it has completed the acquisition of the gallium nitride (GaN) substrate and
epitaxy business of Advanced Technology Materials, Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of ATMI, Inc.  for $10.25 million.  On March 25, 2004, Cree announced
a definitive agreement to purchase the business including related intellectual
property, fixed assets and inventory.

Chuck Swoboda, CEO and President of Cree, stated, "This acquisition will bring
us a strong technical team along with core technology in the GaN substrate and
epitaxy areas that could be important longer term for lasers and microwave
devices.  We also acquired 17 U.S. patents and additional patent applications
which complement our existing intellectual property portfolio. These patents
include a pioneering U.S. patent for white LEDs and related technology which
should strengthen our XLamp(TM) business and help Cree drive the market for
LED-based lighting."

Cree is an advanced semiconductor company that leverages its expertise in
silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon (Si) materials
technology to produce new and enabling semiconductors.  The products include
blue, green and near ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs), near UV
lasers, radio frequency (RF) and microwave devices, and power switching devices.
 Targeted applications for these products include solid state illumination,
optical storage, wireless infrastructure and power switching. For more
information on Cree, please visit our web site at http://www.cree.com/ .

This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and
uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated.  Actual results may differ materially due to a
number of factors, including the risks that the acquired operations may not
achieve the results expected, we may have difficulties retaining existing
customers of the acquired operations, the costs and challenges of integrating
the acquired operations with our other businesses may be greater than expected
and other factors discussed in Cree's report on Form 10-K for the year ended
June 29, 2003 and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. 

DATASOURCE: Cree, Inc.



CONTACT:  Fran Barsky, Investor Relations Manager of Cree, Inc.,

[phone], or fax, [phone], or  



Web site:  http://www.cree.com/ 

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