Ceradyne’s ESK Ceramics Acquires Interest in Chemtrix, B.V.

COSTA MESA, CA–(Marketwire – June 01, 2012) – Ceradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) announced that its German-based subsidiary, ESK Ceramics, GmbH & Co., has acquired a minority interest in Chemtrix, based in the Netherlands, for an undisclosed amount. During 2012, the transaction will have an immaterial impact on Ceradyne’s fully diluted earnings per share.

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 larger quantity 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.

Dr. Thomas Jüngling, President of ESK and Vice President of Ceradyne, commented: “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.”

Hugo Delissen, CEO of Chemtrix, commented: “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 become one of the leading companies in the flow-chemistry market.”

About Ceradyne, Inc.
Ceradyne develops, manufactures, and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components industrial, energy, automotive/diesel, and commercial applications.

In many high performance applications, products made of advanced technical ceramics meet specifications that similar products made of metals, plastics or traditional ceramics cannot achieve. Advanced technical ceramics can withstand extremely high temperatures, combine hardness with light weight, are highly resistant to corrosion and wear, and often have excellent electrical capabilities, special electronic properties and low friction characteristics. Additional information about the Company can be found at http://www.ceradyne.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of Ceradyne that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “future,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.