Company News

Leclanché update on fire at corporate headquarters in Switzerland on 22 May

Tue May 23
  • All staff were evacuated and are safe. Alternative plan for business continuity is being implemented.
  • Share trading of Leclanché resumed at 9 am CET this morning.

YVERDON LES BAINS, Switzerland, 23nd May 2017: Leclanché SA (SIX: LECN), one of the world’s leading energy storage solution companies, today provided an update on the fire that took place and was extinguished yesterday at the company’s corporate headquarters at Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.

All Leclanché personnel were evacuated quickly and safely from the fire, which started in the lobby of Leclanché’s office building and was caused by a single third- party battery system using third-party battery cells, and their proprietary modules and battery management software.

The fire was largely contained within Leclanché’s lobby and it was brought under control within two hours of it starting at 1130am.

The fire did not reach Leclanché’s adjoining production building though smoke was widely spread throughout the company’s premises. The affected areas are being cleaned by specialist personnel.

By yesterday evening, the fire department gave access to the property to Leclanché’s health and safety team and insurance company.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, said: “The health and safety of our employees is our absolute priority and everyone was evacuated quickly and safely. We now have specialist teams cleaning our facilities and ensuring that they are safe.”

We anticipate a return to business as usual across most of the organisation by early next week. In the meantime, all of our managers and team leaders are available via email and mobile phones. We thank our customers and suppliers for their kind messages of support and would like to assure them that we will continue to provide them with our dedicated services, however there might be a slight delay in our response this week for which we request their understanding.

“Our heartfelt thanks goes to the emergency services, Yverdon les Bains’s municipal services as well as the other professional teams that we are working with, for the tremendous support given to Leclanché and our community. We would also like to thank our good neighbours, Boxer, for their immediate and continued support.”

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 Leclanché

 

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