ASM & SILICON VALLEY GROUP, ANNOUNCE INTENT TO WITHDRAW THEIR PETITION FOR EXON FLORIO REVIEW
08 January 2001 - ASML Netherlands B.V.

ASM Lithography Holding N.V. and Silicon Valley Group, Inc. today announced that in order to provide additional time to address certain U.S. government inquiries pertaining to the pending merger, the companies, voluntarily requested the withdrawal of their filing in connection with the Exon-Florio review process and plan to refile their petition by the end of the month.

Doug Dunn, Chief Executive Officer of ASML, said, "This initiative, done in good faith and full cooperation with U.S. government officials, is consistent with our resolve to complete this transaction in a timely fashion. By refiling the petition, we believe that we will be able to be more responsive to the U.S. government's review, providing them some additional time to finalize their work and thereby advance the approval process."

Exon-Florio is the common name for the review process the U.S. government uses to screen acquisitions of U.S. companies such as Silicon Valley Group by foreign entities such as ASML. The review, which is performed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, is authorized by the Exon-Florio Amendment to the Defense Production Act of 1950.

Having already received antitrust clearance, the consummation of the merger agreement remains subject to the Exon-Florio review process, approval by SVG's stockholders and other customary conditions.

For more information about the merger agreement and the combining companies, please see the October 2, 2000 press release announcing the transaction at www.asml.com or www.svg.com and the proxy statement-propsectus related to the merger on file with Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov

http://www.asml.com

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