APRIL 27, 2007 -- Järfälla, Sweden-based Svedice AB, European provider of customized InP-semiconductor foundry solutions, has announced the signing of an investment agreement with SFO Technologies, a NeST Group company with products and services in diverse technology fields, including embedded software, middleware, digital electronics, RF and wireless, wire harness, power supplies, fiber optics and optronics, and mechanical/plastic packaging.

According to Dr. Dirk Sinerius, CEO of Svedice AB, SFO Technologies will join Svedice's existing Swedish investor consortium as a co-investor. "We are very pleased about their decision [to] invest in the company's future," he says. "Supported by the SFO Technologies' sales force, we'll be able [to] expand our customer base and grow our business significantly at a much higher pace. On the operational side, we have already a well-established, close bi-lateral partnership," Sinerius adds. "SFO [is] our customer for laser and receiver products and our outsourcing partner for volume manufacturing of chip-on-carriers."

Mr. Javad (Jay) Hassan, chairman of the NeST group, reports that SFO is "very focused on the optical communications industry. I want Svedive to become the center of our optical business unit within SFO Technologies," he says. "The demand for opto-electronic devices will increase, and SFO Technologies will definitely be a major player in this market."

Building on a business that dates back to Ericsson Micoelectronics, Svedice AB delivers laser and receiver products, including Telcordia-qualified DFB-EA, DFB, APD, and PIN devices. The company offers both semiconductor processing services as well as process design. For wafer- and chip-on-carrier-processing, Svedice offers services like III-V epitaxial growth, materials characterization, e-beam writing, lithography, etching, metallization, and testing.

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