Rogers Corporation and Hitachi Chemical Establish Strategic Collaboration Agreement

Date
10/21/2011

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Rogers Corporation (NYSE: ROG) (Rogers) and Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (TSE: 4217) (Hitachi Chemical) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a strategic collaboration agreement (Agreement) to expand global adoption and improve customer support of printed circuit board (PCB) materials for use in high speed digital (HSD) applications. The Agreement enables Rogers and Hitachi Chemical the ability to provide customers with a wider range of products, faster delivery, and enhanced technical support to meet rapidly growing material demand driven by HSD applications, which include high speed server, router, and telecommunication devices operating at speeds greater than 1Gb/s, for use in internet data and video transmission services. The Agreement evolved from a previous agreement established in December, 2008 between the two companies to trade products and market them under their own brand names for wider product lineup and sales expansion. Under the terms of the new Agreement, Rogers is granted exclusive rights to manufacture laminates using prepregs (prepreg is the intermediate material of PCB material consisting of impregnating glass cloth with thermosetting resin) supplied by Hitachi Chemical, and to exclusively distribute these HSD PCB products to customers other than those reserved by Hitachi Chemical. The Agreement enables Rogers to offer a broader variety of high performance circuit materials, and allows Hitachi Chemical to increase sales and accelerate market adoption of its high technology products through Rogers' worldwide sales network. The companies will also work to jointly develop new HSD PCB materials for future applications. The initial focus of this collaboration is to expand the global adoption of Hitachi Chemical's mid-loss halogen-free HSD PCB materials, MCL-HE-679G, concurrently offered to the HSD market by Rogers under the THETA® circuit materials co-brand. Rogers will also work on expanding the global market adoption of Hitachi Chemical's low-transmission loss HSD PCB materials, MCL-FX-2 laminate and GFA-2 prepregs. Mike Bessette, Senior Vice President of Rogers Advanced Circuit Materials Division, commented "Rogers is very excited about strengthening our partnership with Hitachi Chemical. Our combined strengths in global manufacturing, new product development, and customer support provide a compelling High Speed Digital printed circuit material solution for our customers worldwide. Together, our companies offer a competitive value proposition to our customers in the wired infrastructure market segment." Misao Nakagawa, Executive Officer, General Manager of Hitachi Chemical's Printed Wiring Board Materials Business Sector, commented "Hitachi Chemical is looking forward to establishing an excellent support system in manufacturing, product development and customer service in the HSD market through this agreement. This collaboration capitalizes on both companies' strength in High Speed Digital printed wiring board material solutions. We can further maximize our value by offering a comprehensive product and support solution to our customers and be recognized as leaders in the market by working together." About Rogers Corporation Rogers Corporation (Corporate Office: Connecticut (USA); President & CEO: Bruce D. Hoechner); is a global technology leader in specialty materials and components that enable high performance and reliability of consumer electronics, power electronics, mass transit, clean technology, and telecommunications infrastructure. With more than 179 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Rogers provides product designers with solutions to their most demanding challenges. Rogers' products include advanced circuit materials for wireless infrastructure, power amplifiers, radar systems, high speed digital; power electronics for high-voltage rail traction, hybrid-electric vehicles, wind and solar power conversion; and high performance foams for sealing and energy management in smart phones, aircraft and rail interiors, automobiles and apparel; and other advanced materials for diverse markets including defense and consumer products. Headquartered in Connecticut (USA), Rogers operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Belgium, China, Germany, and South Korea, with joint ventures and sales offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.rogerscorp.com About Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo (Japan); President & CEO: Kazuyuki Tanaka; Capital: US$18.7 million) is a chemical company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan with around 15,900 employees. The Group reported consolidated net sales of US$5,993.4 million (from Japanese yen into U.S. dollars at the rate of 83 yen =1 U.S. dollars) for its fiscal year 2010 ended March 31, 2011. Hitachi Chemical offers materials and components under functional materials segment and advanced components and systems segment and is proud to achieve No.1 market share in many products. Hitachi Chemical started paper-phenolic copper clad laminates production in 1955 and launched the first glass cloth epoxy resin copper clad laminates in Japan in 1958. Hitachi chemical has been expanding its printed wiring board materials business ever since and has a solid reputation for its high-performance IC package substrate materials. For more information, visit www.hitachi-chem.co.jp/english/index.html

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