Agilent Becomes Avago

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Avago Technologies today announced it has started operations as the world's largest privately held independent semiconductor company. Avago was created as a result of the acquisition of Agilent Technologies Inc.'s (NYSE:A) Semiconductor Products Group by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Silver Lake Partners in a $2.66 billion transaction announced Aug. 15, 2005, and completed today.

"Our strategy is to leverage our substantial intellectual property, design expertise and system-level knowledge to win in our markets," said Dick Chang, president and CEO of Avago Technologies. "We'll continue to provide the innovative products that enable our customers and that have established our market leadership positions. We'll also continue to drive profitability through a highly variable, low-cost operating model, and we'll capitalize on our new independence by developing an efficient, stand-alone cost structure."

James H. Greene Jr., a partner at KKR and an Avago board member, said, "This is a momentous day for Avago Technologies. We believe its strong history of innovation, many leadership positions, world-class global supply chain and excellent reputation for outstanding customer service to the world's leading OEMs will produce solid revenue growth and returns."

John R. Joyce, a managing director of Silver Lake and an Avago board member, said, "Avago Technologies is a customer-focused semiconductor company with great potential for growth. Given its strong intellectual property foundation of more than 2,000 patents, global scale, talented management team, dedicated employees and cost efficient operating structure, Avago is already well on its way to becoming a true semiconductor powerhouse. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the Avago team to further enhance and extend Avago's leadership in the semiconductor arena."

Agilent Technologies Inc.