ESK Ceramics GmbH & CO. KG, Kempten, Germany and Chemtrix B.V., Geleen, The Netherlands jointly announced that ESK has acquired a minority interest in Chemtrix for an undisclosed amount.

Chemtrix develops and sells equipment and services based on the concept of executing R&D and process development in revolutionary micro reactors with a direct scale to kgquantity production in mid-size reactors. ESK is a supplier of flow chemistry reactors suitable to produce on an industrial scale. With this cooperation the companies are able to offer a

complete product portfolio of scalable flow chemistry equipment and services to the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry.

Hugo Delissen, CEO of Chemtrix: “Chemtrix and ESK are ideal partners for jointly developing this emerging market. We will be able to deliver the equipment and the knowledge needed to enable customers integrating this new efficiency increasing technology into their production lines. Together we will be one of the leading companies in the flow chemistry market.”

Dr. Thomas Jüngling, President of ESK and Vice President of Ceradyne: “As a leader in ceramic products we see considerable growth potential for industrial flow reactors. We expect,that the combination of flow chemistry knowledge and R&D laboratory equipment at Chemtrix and our industrial reactor manufacturing know how will accelerate the adoption of this technology.”

About Chemtrix

Started in 2006 as a joint venture between The University of Hull (Hull, UK) and Lionix BV (Enschede,NL) Chemtrix Ltd was born out of a combination of expertise in micro reactor chemical research and micro reactor fabrication. In 2008, Chemtrix BV was established to develop the business further. The company is currently located on two sites, the Headquarters being on the Chemelot Campus in Geleen (NL), where all management, engineering, product development, quality assurance and sales

take place, and the Chemistry Department in Hull (UK). Working closely with the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries, Chemtrix BV has developed a product portfolio that comprises of flow chemistry equipment Labtrix and KiloFlow

and services such as contract research and contract manufacturing finding application in both research and small production environments. Chemtrix is represented in Europe, UK, USA, Taiwan, China and India.

Chemtrix is building on the world class flow chemistry knowledge of Dr. Paul Watts of the University of

Hull and Dr. Charlotte Wiles, CTO of Chemtrix. The two organic chemists started investigating chemical reactions in glass micro reactors in the year 2000. During the last 12 years they published multiple scientific publications and books on organic chemistry in micro reactors. From 2008 onwards Chemtrix developed flow reactor systems based on glass reactors.

For further information, visit us at: www.chemtrix.com

About ESK

ESK Ceramics GmbH & Co. KG is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of advanced ceramic products and materials for industrial applications, and a specialist in the field of nickel dispersion coatings. Our extensive range of materials comprises borides, carbides and nitrides, for example boron carbide, boron nitride, silicon carbide, silicon nitride or titanium diboride. ESK’s product portfolio includes 18 registered trademarks and 10 specialized materials used by customers from over 30 industries around the world. Furthermore, ESK is continually developing new applications for ceramic materials in cooperation with customers and research institutes.

The Company was founded in 1922 and now employs over 700 people at Kempten (Allgäu/South Germany). Since August 2004, ESK has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Ceradyne. Inc. (CRDN), which is based in Costa Mesa (California, USA) and publicly listed on the US NASDAQ technology stock exchange. Ceradyne has over 2100 employees at a total of 16

sites worldwide. Its sales in 2011 reached USD 572 million. As globally successful manufacturers of technical high-performance ceramics, Ceradyne and ESK are ideal partners, unleashing synergies to the benefit of customers.

For further information, visit us at: www.esk.com