• Appointment of ex Areva Renewables chief executive
• Additional CHF 3 million financing secured from Oak Ridge Energy Technologies Inc.(OKME)

Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, June 3, 2014 – Leclanché S.A. (SIX Swiss Exchange: LECN), specialized in the production of large-format lithium-ion cells and energy storage solutions, today announces the appointment of Mr Anil Srivastava, ex-chief executive of Areva Renewables as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Effective June 2, 2014, he will take over from Mr Joe Mangion and Mr Eric Wilkinson who will step down, as they have now successfully completed the initial stages of the turnaround plan.
The company also announced that it has secured an additional facility of CHF 3 million from Oak Ridge Energy Technologies Inc., a company controlled by Precept Management SPC, acting on behalf of Precept Segregated Portfolio (“Precept”).

New Chief Executive

Mr Srivastava (53) was the Chief Executive of Areva Renewables and a member of the Areva Group’s executive committee from January 2009 to December 2011. Until recently he was the Chief Executive of a large offshore wind business in Germany. He is an experienced executive with a strong track record in building global businesses. Prior to his activity at Areva, he has held senior executive positions in companies such as TomTom group and Alcatel-Lucent. He obtained a master’s degree from the National Institute of Technology in India and graduated with an Executive MBA from the Wharton School of Business in the USA.
Mr Srivastava is a Board member of Oak Ridge Energy Technologies Inc., (“Oak Ridge”) (Ticker: OKME) and serves as Chairman of its M&A Committee. With the initial phases of the turnaround plan now complete, under Mr Srivastava’s leadership, the Company can now move forward to drive its commercial and technological development and strengthen its presence in North America through further collaboration with Oak Ridge.
The Board wishes to thank warmly Mr Mangion and Mr Wilkinson for their hard work in accomplishing the initial phases of the turnaround plan and putting the company on track for the next phase of its development.
Mr Srivastava commented: “I am truly excited by Leclanché’s energy storage technology, including its patented ceramic separator and its water based coating processes. Mr. Mangion and Mr. Wilkinson have given the company a solid base and initiated, in particular, a number of industrial partnerships, end user applications and alliances with system integrators. I plan to develop these further and accelerate the business development opportunities both in Europe and North America and will seek to scale the business in all its activities. Being closely associated with Oak Ridge, I intend to leverage a closer relationship between the two companies to address the market aggressively. I am therefore delighted to be asked to lead Leclanché at this time.” Mr Mangion and Mr Wilkinson added: “We have known Mr Srivastava for several years. He has a deep understanding of technology companies and of renewable energy and has the right experience, skills and contacts to take Leclanché to the next level.”

Additional Financing

On July 8, 2013, Leclanché and Precept entered into a loan agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) under which Precept granted Leclanché a 2 per cent CHF 17million three year term loan due in 2016 convertible into registered shares and secured by assets of Leclanché (the “Initial Facility”) that has been fully drawn down. Precept has since converted CHF15.3 million of this facility (together with accrued interest) and currently holds 50.1% of the issued share capital of the Company. On March 5, 2014, Leclanché announced that it had secured a Letter of Support from Precept, confirming its willingness to continue to fully support the Company and that it will take such steps as are within its powers at least until 31 March 2015 to facilitate the provision of additional funding as reasonably requested by the Board of the Company showing need of such funding.
The Board is pleased to confirm that further to this Support Letter it has secured an additional facility of CHF 3 million from Oak Ridge Energy Technologies Inc.(“Oak Ridge”), a company controlled by Precept on terms that are broadly similar to those of the Initial Facility. Leclanché and Oak Ridge had recently signed a joint development and marketing agreement. The Board is delighted to benefit from the continued support of Oak Ridge and its lead invest.

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