Schlumberger Announces Sale of NPTest Business Unit

     
BW20030624002043  20030624T121211Z UTC


( BW)(SCHLUMBERGER-LD.)(SCL) Schlumberger Announces Sale of NPTest
Business Unit

    Business Editors
    UK REGULATORY NEWS

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 2003--

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) announced today that certain of its
subsidiaries have signed a definitive agreement with a partnership led
by Francisco Partners and Shah Management for the sale of the NPTest
business unit.

Under terms of the agreement, the partnership will pay Schlumberger
$220 million in cash at closing. Additionally, the agreement states
that the partnership has a contingent obligation to make a further
payment to Schlumberger upon a subsequent qualifying disposition or an
initial public offering of NPTest by the partnership, under certain
circumstances. The transaction is expected to close in July, subject
to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Schlumberger will record a net loss of $12 million in the second
quarter as discontinued operations.

This sale represents the completion of another step in the divestiture
plan of non-core activities set out by Schlumberger last year.

NPTest designs and manufactures advanced semiconductor test and
diagnostic equipment, and provides related product engineering
services. The customers of NPTest include semiconductor manufacturers,
fabless companies, foundries and test contractors worldwide. NPTest,
which employs 900 people, had revenue of $230 million in 2002.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger is a global oilfield and information services company
with major activity in the energy industry. The company employs 78,000
people of more than 140 nationalities working in 100 countries and
consists of three primary business segments. Schlumberger Oilfield
Services is the world's premier oilfield services company supplying a
wide range of technology services and solutions to the international
oil and gas industry. SchlumbergerSema is a leading supplier of IT
consulting, systems integration, and network and infrastructure
services to the energy industry, as well as to the public sector,
telecommunications and finance markets. WesternGeco, jointly owned
with Baker Hughes, is the world's largest and most advanced surface
seismic company. In 2002, Schlumberger revenue was $13.5 billion. For
more information, visit www.slb.com.

About Francisco Partners

With $2.5 billion of committed capital, Francisco Partners is the
world's largest technology-focused private equity fund. The firm was
founded to pursue structured investments in technology companies
undergoing strategic, technological, and operational inflection
points. Francisco Partners targets majority and minority investments
in private companies, public companies, and divisions of public
companies, with transaction values ranging from $30 million to $2
billion. The principals of Francisco Partners have a proven track
record, having invested in excess of $2.0 billion of equity capital in
over 25 technology companies during the past decade, including several
of the most successful buyouts effected to date. The firm also has an
exclusive, long-term relationship with Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon
Valley's most prominent and successful venture capital firms.
Francisco Partners' recent investments include the purchase of
XcelleNet from Sterling Commerce, the purchase of Legerity from
Advanced Micro Devices, the purchase of AMI Semiconductor, the
purchase of Global eXchange Services from GE and the purchase of Ultra
Clean Technology from Mitsubishi. For additional information, visit
www.franciscopartners.com.

   Short Name: Schlumberger Ld.
   Category Code: AGR
   Sequence Number: 00006296
   Time of Receipt (offset from UTC): 20030624T124333+0100

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    CONTACT: Schlumberger Limited
             Christian Lange, 212/350-9432

    KEYWORD: NEW YORK CALIFORNIA
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE ENERGY OIL/GAS MERGERS/ACQ
    SOURCE: Schlumberger

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