Other Press Releases

Leclanché publication of the exact nominal amount by which the share capital shall be increased

Thu Apr 3

The Board of directors proposes increase the ordinary capital by CHF 10,703,782.50 by issuing a total of 7,135,855 new shares Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, April 3, 2014 – Leclanché S.A. (SIX Swiss Exchange: LECN), specialized in the production of large-format lithium-ion cells and energy storage solutions, today announced that the Board of directors proposes to increase the ordinary capital of the company by CHF 10,703,782.50 by issuing a total of 7,135,855 new shares. This proposal will be submitted to the approval of Leclanché’ shareholders during the Annual General Meeting, which will take place today April 3, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. in Yverdon-les-Bains.
This announcement follows the publication of the agenda of the Annual General Meeting on March 13, 2014, in which the exact amount of the nominal amount had still to be confirmed prior to the Annual Meeting.
Pursuant to the terms of the CHF 17 million Senior Secured Convertible Loan Agreement entered into by the Company with Precept Fund Management SPC acting on behalf of Precept Segregated Fund Portfolio (“Precept”) on July 9, 2013, Precept have submitted a letter to Leclanché SA on March 31, 2014 electing to convert CHF10,703,782.50 of their outstanding loan, including accumulated interest at CHF1.50 per share, into 7,135,855 ordinary shares (“Conversion Letter”). The increase of the share capital being proposed at the Annual General Meeting is pursuant to the Conversion Letter. In connection with this conversion and to bring the nominal value of the shares in line with the conversion price under the convertible loan, the Board of Directors proposes shareholders to approve two following resolutions in addition to the other customary resolutions:

(i) a reduction of the share capital of the company of CHF 8,158,607.87 by way of par value reduction from currently CHF 2.11 to CHF 1.50 per share; in addition, the Board of Directors proposes to amend Article 3 quarter and Article 3 quinquies of the Articles of Association so that the Company will be able to source any convertible loan that Precept may grant to the Company in the future (if any) out of the authorized capital (Article 3 quarter) or the conditional capital (Article 3 quinquies); and

(ii) an ordinary capital increase of CHF 10,703,782.50 through the issuance of 7,135,855 new registered shares with a nominal value of CHF 1.50 for the conversion of the Precept loan; the pre-emptive rights are withdrawn in favour of Precept. Upon acceptance of the proposed capital increase, Precept would hold 10,278,240 shares representing 50.1% of the issued share capital of Leclanché SA. The Annual General Meeting of shareholders will be held today April 3, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. (doors open at 10.30 a.m.), at Y-PARC, Rue Galilée 15, CH-1400 Yverdon-les-Bains.

About Leclanché

Headquartered in Switzerland, Leclanché SA is a leading provider of high-quality energy storage solutions designed to accelerate our progress towards a clean energy future. Leclanché’s history and heritage is rooted in over 100 years of battery and energy storage innovation and the Company is a trusted provider of energy storage solutions globally. This coupled with the Company’s culture of German engineering and Swiss precision and quality, continues to make Leclanché the partner of choice for both disruptors, established companies and governments who are pioneering positive changes in how energy is produced, distributed and consumed around the world. The energy transition is being driven primarily by changes in the management of our electricity networks and the electrification of transport, and these two end markets form the backbone of our strategy and business model. Leclanché is at the heart of the convergence of the electrification of transport and the changes in the distribution network. Leclanché is the only listed pure play energy storage company in the world, organised along three business units: stationary storage solutions, e-Transport solutions and specialty batteries systems. Leclanché is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX: LECN).

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.

 

Contacts

 

Media Switzerland /Europe:

Thierry Meyer

T: +41 (0) 79 785 35 81

E-mail: tme@dynamicsgroup.ch

 

Media North America:

Henry Feintuch / Ashley Blas

T: +1-914-548-6924 / +1-509-494-4053

E-mail: leclanche@feintuchpr.com

 

Media Germany:

Christoph Miller

T: +49 (0) 711 947 670

E-mail: leclanche@sympra.de

 

Investor Contacts:

Anil Srivastava / Hubert Angleys

T: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00

E-mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com