Company News

Proposal for the election of one new independent members for the Board of Directors of Leclanché SA

Mon May 6

Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland), 6 May 2019: In addition to the proposal made in the Press Release issued on 16 April 2019 proposing the election of Mr. Bénédict Fontanet, who was introduced to the Board of Directors by Golden Partner representing the interests of FEFAM1, Leclanché’s majority shareholder, in its willingness to preserve its independence, the Board of Directors of Leclanché SA

(SIX: LECN), one of the world’s leading energy storage solutions companies, proposes that Dr. Lluís M. Fargas Mas is elected as a new independent member of the Board of Directors at the ordinary Annual General Meeting which will be held on 9 May 2019.

Dr. Lluís M. Fargas (born in 1966) is a Swiss and Spanish national. In 2010, Dr. Fargas earned his Ph.D. in Finance and Tax Law from Universitat Rovira I Virgili (Spain) graduating summa cum laude. His thesis was based on the “Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) and the Impact/Effect on European Member States’ Tax Revenues.” He holds a Masters degree in law from the Instituto de Empresa (Madrid) and a law degree from the University of Barcelona.

Dr. Fargas joined Alcoa Inc. in 1994, after five years spent as Senior Manager at Coopers & Lybrand, in Barcelona (Spain). Since November 2016 after the spin-off of Alcoa Inc. upstream and downstream businesses into two companies (Alcoa Corp. and Arconic Inc.), Dr. Fargas has been serving in the role of Vice President Tax, Controller and Corporate Development Europe at Arconic, which retained the rolling, plating, precision casting and fastening operations of Alcoa Inc. Dr. Fargas manages the European Tax and Country Controllership function, assuming also the responsibilities for running the corporate development strategy of Arconic in Europe – a $4 billion business with 40 manufacturing sites and over 10,000 employees – with the ultimate goal to leverage business opportunities and accelerate actions to strengthen all Arconic businesses’ strategic position within the region.

In addition to his function at Arconic, Dr. Fargas is a Visiting Professor at the University of Lausanne – UNIL (Switzerland). He also frequently provides lectures at international seminars and workshops.

Mr. Stefan A. Müller, Chairman of the Board of Directors said: “Mr. Fargas would bring to the Leclanché Board of Directors proven financial and corporate development skills as well as many years of professional experience in a multinational operating in a highly demanding environment. His in-depth knowledge of efficient financial and legal structures as well as his strong global network in the aerospace, automotive and banking industry, will give Leclanché

access to invaluable insights which can serve the company’s further development. We believe that Mr. Fargas’ vast financial experience as well as his independent position makes him perfectly suited to contribute to the Company’s current and future priorities in the most efficient and responsible way. The election of Mr. Fargas will ensure that Board control remains with Independent Directors.”

In addition, the Board of Directors wishes to inform the Company’s shareholders that for the same Independent Director position, Mr. Antoine Spillmann, as representative of Bruellan Corporate Governance Action Fund (a major shareholder of the Company), informed the Board of Directors about his intention to propose at the ordinary Annual General Meeting which will be held on 9 May 2019, the election of Mr. Jacques Boppe, 38 years old, to the Board of Directors.

Mr. Boppe is a Swiss national currently working as an independent advisor on microgrid projects. Mr. Boppe has more than ten years of experience in the renewable energy sector. He worked two years at Leclanché as VP Business Development, Marketing/Investor Relations and two years as Managing Director of Swiss Green Electricity Management, a provider of equity financing to build-own-operate energy storage assets globally. He was CEO and co-founder of an EPFL start-up developing wind turbines for repowering and projects on complex terrain in China and Switzerland.

Prior to this, Mr. Boppe worked on several grid-tied and microgrid energy storage projects in the US, Canada, Portugal, Chile and Namibia. Mr. Boppe began his career as an investment banker working for six years with Credit Suisse and Huaxing in Hong Kong and China. Mr. Boppe graduated from EPFL in micro engineering, Cambridge University (UK) and completed an MBA at INSEAD.

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1 FEFAM means: AM INVESTMENT SCA, SICAV-SIF – Liquid Assets Sub-Fund, together with FINEXIS EQUITY FUND

– Renewable Energy Sub-Fund, FINEXIS EQUITY FUND – Multi Asset Strategy Sub-Fund, FINEXIS EQUITY FUND – E Money Strategies Sub-Fund (also called Energy Storage Invest) and, all these funds being in aggregate the main shareholder of Leclanché, hereunder referred to as “FEFAM”.


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 contacts:

Europe/Global

Desiree Maghoo
T: +44 (0) 7775 522 740
E-mail: dmaghoo@questorconsulting.com

Laure Lagrange
T: +44 (0) 7768 698 731
E-mail: llagrange@questorconsulting.com

US and Canada

Rick Anderson
T: +1-718-986-1596

Henry Feintuch
T: +1-212-808-4901
E-mail: lelcanche@feintuchpr.com

Switzerland

Thierry Meyer
T: +41 (0) 79 785 35 81
E-mail: tme@dynamicsgroup.ch

Thomas Balmer
T: +41 (0) 79 703 87 28
E-mail: tba@dynamicsgroup.ch

Investor Contacts

Anil Srivastava / Hubert Angleys
T: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00
E-mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com