Leclanché SA: Leclanché shareholders approve all Board proposals at Annual General Meeting Mittwoch, 26. Juli 2017 - 19:44

Leclanché SA / Key word(s): AGM/EGM/Financing
Leclanché SA: Leclanché shareholders approve all Board proposals at Annual
General Meeting

26-Jul-2017 / 18:43 CET/CEST
Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 KR

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Leclanché shareholders approve all Board proposals at Annual General Meeting

- The Company has secured fresh investment of CHF 18.5 million from existing
investors Golden Partner and Bruellan

- Creation of authorized and conditional share capital to enable Leclanché
to raise funds for growth plans

- 2017 funding and growth strategy update, including confirmation of 450 MWh
of qualified pipeline

- Three new directors elected

YVERDON-LES-BAINS, Switzerland, 26th July 2017: Leclanché SA (SIX Swiss
Exchange: LECN), one of the world's leading energy storage solution
companies, announced today that its shareholders approved all of the
proposals of the Board of Directors at its 2016 Annual General Meeting held
this morning.

Shareholders approved all the resolutions relating to the creation of
authorized and conditional share capital in connection with the 2017
operating and growth plans of the Company.

Three new members were elected to the Board of Directors. The Company
welcomes Mr. Pierre-Alain Graf, a well-known industry leader in Switzerland
and Europe, as an independent director. The Company also welcomes Mr. Tianyi
Fan and Ms. Cathy Wang from Golden Partner, both top-class finance
professionals, to the Board.

The shareholders also approved the proposals of LECN Co-Invest and ACE EE to
readopt article 5 of the Articles of Association with regards to opting-up
moving from 33 to 49 percent.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, provided a comprehensive overview of
2016's key achievements, including 56 per cent increase in revenue, more
than 2.5 times 2014's figure; 16-fold increase in order intake; steady-state
EBITDA loss reduction by 54 per cent, year-on-year; and off-balance sheet
USD 23 million in project finance. Srivastava also provided an update on the
Company's funding and growth strategy. Despite the success in 2016,
Leclanché's growth strategy faced a temporary blip in the first half of
2017. This was driven by accumulated losses from the past and Leclanché's
delay in raising new equity, which led to a very short term balance-sheet
based technical insolvency under Swiss CO725.2, known to the Board since 31st
May 2017, and negotiating an extension of the Convertible Loan provided by
ACE and Jade Group, due on 30th June 2017. Leclanché solved these issues and
its trajectory to profitable growth remains unaffected as it secured fresh
investment of CHF18.5 million in July from existing shareholders Golden
Partner and Bruellan.

Leclanché is planning to raise a further CHF 30 million in October and is
reviewing the options of a rights issue, private placement with
institutional shareholders and an asset sale.

In addition, Leclanché is reviewing a potential second listing on a North
American exchange and the possible acquisition of a target energy management
storage software company, which is expected to generate an additional 3.5
per cent margin.

Jim Atack, Chairman of Leclanché, said: "We are delighted to receive the
continued support of our shareholders and their approval of all the Board's
proposals. We are very pleased to welcome Tianyi Fan, Pierre-Alain Graf and
Cathy Wang to the Board. We are also very grateful to have received the
investment commitments from our long-term shareholders Golden Partner and
Bruellan, which will enable Leclanché's management to take the Company to
the next stage of its growth story. We thank ACE and Jade group for their
constructive work with Golden Partner and the Company to extend the
convertible loan."

Mr. Tianyi Fan and Ms. Cathy Wang representing the interests of Golden
Partner said: "Leclanché is at the forefront of the transformation of the
global energy industry to a focus on renewables and we are delighted to have
the opportunity to invest further in the huge opportunities ahead for the
Company."

Antoine Spillmann, partner and CEO of Bruellan, a major shareholder of the
Company, said: "We are very pleased to increase our investment in Leclanché.
I congratulate Anil and his world-class management team for their work in
transforming the Company. Leclanché is one of the most innovative
organizations in a sector that is set for long term high growth."

Leclanché's resumed fast-track growth strategy for the second half of 2017
is focused on completing its utility scale stationary storage projects in
progress, including Marengo project in the USA and IESO project in Canada,
two of the biggest projects of their kind in the world; and finalising
contracts in eTransport following the Company's global agreement with Skoda
Electric to provide battery packs for the Company's electric buses packaged
solution; the launch of Leclanché's Marine Rack System, the world's first
system approved under revised DNV-GL requirements; and the agreement with
eCAMION and SGEM to build and operate a network of 34 electric vehicle
fast-charging stations along the trans-Canada highway.

In total, Leclanché has a confirmed order book of 95 MWh through 2018,
equivalent to more than USD 50 million in revenue, and a qualified pipeline
of more than 450 MWh. In eTransport, Leclanché is expecting to generate over
150 MWh per year, equivalent to more than USD 45 million in revenue, from
2019.

The markets in which Leclanché operates continue to experience very high
growth. According to Navigant Research, in the four years to 2020
utility-scale generation and micro grids will experience a Combined Annual
Growth Rate (CAGR) of 48 per cent; commercial and industrial battery
systems, 58 per cent CAGR; and eTransport, 37 per cent CAGR.

About Leclanché

Leclanché is one of the world's leading fully vertically integrated energy
storage solution providers. It delivers a wide range of energy storage
solutions for homes, small offices, large industries, electricity grids, as
well as hybridization for mass transport systems such as bus fleets and
ferries. Established in 1909, Leclanché has been a trusted provider of
battery energy storage solutions for over 100 years.

Founded in the tradition of Georges Leclanché, the inventor of the dry cell
battery, Leclanché today has a rich portfolio of Battery Energy Storage
Systems (BESS) that include bespoke battery systems from industry leading
lithium-ion solutions.

Leclanché is listed on the Swiss stock exchange, and is the only listed
pure-play energy storage company in the world.

SIX Swiss Exchange: ticker symbol LECN | ISIN CH 011 030 311 9

Disclaimer

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to
Leclanché's business, which can be identified by terminology such as
"strategic", "proposes", "to introduce", "will", "planned", "expected",
"commitment", "expects", "set", "preparing", "plans", "estimates", "aims",
"would", "potential", "awaiting", "estimated", "proposal", or similar
expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding the ramp up of
Leclanché's production capacity, potential applications for existing
products, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products, or
potential future sales or earnings of Leclanché or any of its business
units.

You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such
forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Leclanché regarding
future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
statements. There can be no guarantee that Leclanché's products will achieve
any particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee that
Leclanché, or any of the business units, will achieve any particular
financial results.

* * * * *

Leclanché Media Contacts:

Europe/Global:
Désirée Maghoo
T: +44 (0) 7775522740
E-mail: dmaghoo@questorconsulting.com

Simon Barker
T: +44 (0)7866 314331
E-mail: sbarker@questorconsulting.com

U.S. and Canada:

Rick Anderson / Henry Feintuch
T: +1 (718) 986-1596 / +1 (212) 808-4901
E-mail: leclanche@feintuchpr.com

Leclanché Investor Contacts:

Anil Srivastava / Hubert Angleys
Tel.: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00
E-mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com
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End of ad hoc announcement

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