C&D Technologies Creates New Asian Business Unit and Announces Appointment of Ms. Chun
Lauener as General Manager for C&D-Asia
BLUE BELL, Pa., Mar. 31 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
C&D Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: CHP), a leading North American producer and marketer of batteries,
battery systems and integrated standby power systems, today announced the investment in an expanded
manufacturing facility, product portfolio and management team in Shanghai, China.
Asia and the Chinese market in particular, present C&D Technologies with a tremendous opportunity for
growth. While C&D has the leading market share for stationary battery power in North America, the Asian
market is highly fragmented with many global and domestic companies competing in this dynamic, growing
marketplace. Even with the global economic slowdown, the market for industrial batteries in China is expected
to continue its growth this year, fueled by the continuing investment in infrastructure for telecommunications
and data centers, as well as energy generation and transmission across the country. The fastest growth is
now expected to be in the telecom and energy markets as the Chinese government economic stimulus efforts
focus heavily on expansion of basic infrastructure throughout the country. In the telecommunications market,
China is in the initial stages of the introduction of 3G wireless technology, and expansion of these networks
will be a primary objective over the next several years. As the reliability of the Chinese electrical grid is
lacking, highly reliable back-up power for wireless communications is essential. The Chinese government has
recently assigned third-generation mobile phone licenses to three large domestic carriers, China Mobile Ltd.,
China Unicom Ltd., and China Telecom Corporation, in a long-awaited step that is expected to prompt over
$40 billion in spending on new equipment, which includes batteries as an essential element. Estimates of this
expanded battery market for wireless telecom alone, are sighted in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.
Third-generation, or 3G, technology supports Web surfing, wireless video and other services which are
essential to the nation's continued development.
To capitalize on these expanding market opportunities, C&D Technologies is creating a new business unit,
its first outside of North America, which will comprise local manufacturing, engineering, marketing and sales.
C&D-Asia will leverage C&D Technologies new state-of-the art battery manufacturing plant which was opened
in early 2008, located in the Pudong region of China, just west of Shanghai. This plant is one of the largest
and most modern industrial battery manufacturing plants in the world, including state-of-the-art environmental
systems that will ensure leadership in environmental compliance as the Chinese government focuses
increasingly on improving standards throughout the country. Within this new facility, C&D Technologies will
establish a Development laboratory and a local Engineering team to leverage its recent development of
advanced batteries for telecommunications and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems in North America,
transitioning these designs and related manufacturing technologies into the Asian marketplace and producing
them locally to provide cost-effective, high technology solutions for Asian and European customers. These
new designs will include the msEndur II(R) 2-volt VRLA 'green battery system', and the new C&D True Front
Access VRLA battery system, adapted to the local needs of the Asian marketplace.
In conjunction with its expanded Asian investment strategy, C&D Technologies is very pleased to announce
the appointment of Ms. Chun Lauener as the new General Manager of C&D-Asia. Ms. Lauener joins C&D
Technologies following an outstanding career with MGE, a global supplier of UPS systems and a subsidiary of
Schneider Group of France, which, following its acquisition of APC Inc. just over a year ago, became the
largest manufacturer of UPS systems in the world.
"Ms. Lauener has an outstanding track record of success as an Asian business leader, joining C&D
Technologies following over 23 years of increasing leadership responsibilities with MGE, a subsidiary of
Schneider Group of France. During her career with MGE, Ms. Lauener led the establishment and growth of its
Asian business from its fledgling start to over $300M in revenue prior to the APC acquisition by Schneider. Her
experience with our customer base, combined with her entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrated business
leadership experience in Asia, equip her well to lead our newly formed Asian business unit. Moving forward
Ms. Lauener will focus on new product introduction and expansion of our Asian Sales Team to drive exciting
growth in the months and years ahead," said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, President and CEO of C&D Technologies.
Dr. Graves continued, "Asia, including China, India, Korea, Indonesia and other developing nations, has the
highest infrastructure growth rates of any region in the world and therefore represents a tremendous market
for our products. With our investment over the last two years in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in
Shanghai, we are now well positioned to capitalize on this market growth through a combination of global
technology adapted for local markets and a strong Asian leadership team."
C&D(R) and msEndur II(R) are registered trademarks of C&D Technologies, Inc.
About C&D Technologies:
C&D Technologies, Inc. provides solutions and services for the switchgear and control (utility),
telecommunications, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS), as well as emerging markets such as solar
power. C&D Technologies engineers, manufactures, sells and services fully integrated reserve power systems
for regulating and monitoring power flow and providing backup power in the event of primary power loss until
the primary source can be restored. C&D Technologies' unique ability to offer complete systems, designed
and produced to high technical standards, sets it apart from its competition. C&D Technologies is
headquartered in Blue Bell, PA. For more information about C&D Technologies, visit
Forward-looking Statements:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), which are based on
management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Words
and expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Factors that appear with the
forward- looking statements, or in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings (including
without limitation the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2008, or the
quarterly and current reports filed on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K thereafter), could cause the company's actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made herein.
SOURCE: C&D Technologies, Inc.
CONTACT: Shareholder Contacts,
Ian J. Harvie of C&D,
+1-215-619-7835;
or Joseph Crivelli of Gregory FCA,
for C&D,
+1-610-642-8253;
or Rita Biehl,
Marketing Manager,
+1-215-619-7806,
rbiehl@cdtechno.com,
or Ian Harvie,
Chief Financial Officer,
+1-215-619-7835,
iharvie@cdtechno.com,
both of C&D Technologies
(CHP)
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