C&D News

C&D Technologies Creates New Asian Business Unit and Announces Appointment of Ms. Chun Lauener as General Manager for C&D-Asia

BLUE BELL, Pa., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- C&D Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: CHP), a leading North American producer and marketer of batteries, battery systems and integrated standby power systems, today announced the investment in an expanded manufacturing facility, product portfolio and management team in Shanghai, China.

Asia and the Chinese market in particular, present C&D Technologies with a tremendous opportunity for growth. While C&D has the leading market share for stationary battery power in North America, the Asian market is highly fragmented with many global and domestic companies competing in this dynamic, growing marketplace. Even with the global economic slowdown, the market for industrial batteries in China is expected to continue its growth this year, fueled by the continuing investment in infrastructure for telecommunications and data centers, as well as energy generation and transmission across the country. The fastest growth is now expected to be in the telecom and energy markets as the Chinese government economic stimulus efforts focus heavily on expansion of basic infrastructure throughout the country. In the telecommunications market, China is in the initial stages of the introduction of 3G wireless technology, and expansion of these networks will be a primary objective over the next several years. As the reliability of the Chinese electrical grid is lacking, highly reliable back-up power for wireless communications is essential. The Chinese government has recently assigned third-generation mobile phone licenses to three large domestic carriers, China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom Ltd., and China Telecom Corporation, in a long-awaited step that is expected to prompt over $40 billion in spending on new equipment, which includes batteries as an essential element. Estimates of this expanded battery market for wireless telecom alone, are sighted in the hundreds of millions of US dollars. Third-generation, or 3G, technology supports Web surfing, wireless video and other services which are essential to the nation's continued development.

To capitalize on these expanding market opportunities, C&D Technologies is creating a new business unit, its first outside of North America, which will comprise local manufacturing, engineering, marketing and sales. C&D-Asia will leverage C&D Technologies new state-of-the art battery manufacturing plant which was opened in early 2008, located in the Pudong region of China, just west of Shanghai. This plant is one of the largest and most modern industrial battery manufacturing plants in the world, including state-of-the-art environmental systems that will ensure leadership in environmental compliance as the Chinese government focuses increasingly on improving standards throughout the country. Within this new facility, C&D Technologies will establish a Development laboratory and a local Engineering team to leverage its recent development of advanced batteries for telecommunications and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems in North America, transitioning these designs and related manufacturing technologies into the Asian marketplace and producing them locally to provide cost-effective, high technology solutions for Asian and European customers. These new designs will include the msEndur II(R) 2-volt VRLA 'green battery system', and the new C&D True Front Access VRLA battery system, adapted to the local needs of the Asian marketplace.

In conjunction with its expanded Asian investment strategy, C&D Technologies is very pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Chun Lauener as the new General Manager of C&D-Asia. Ms. Lauener joins C&D Technologies following an outstanding career with MGE, a global supplier of UPS systems and a subsidiary of Schneider Group of France, which, following its acquisition of APC Inc. just over a year ago, became the largest manufacturer of UPS systems in the world.

"Ms. Lauener has an outstanding track record of success as an Asian business leader, joining C&D Technologies following over 23 years of increasing leadership responsibilities with MGE, a subsidiary of Schneider Group of France. During her career with MGE, Ms. Lauener led the establishment and growth of its Asian business from its fledgling start to over $300M in revenue prior to the APC acquisition by Schneider. Her experience with our customer base, combined with her entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrated business leadership experience in Asia, equip her well to lead our newly formed Asian business unit. Moving forward Ms. Lauener will focus on new product introduction and expansion of our Asian Sales Team to drive exciting growth in the months and years ahead," said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, President and CEO of C&D Technologies. Dr. Graves continued, "Asia, including China, India, Korea, Indonesia and other developing nations, has the highest infrastructure growth rates of any region in the world and therefore represents a tremendous market for our products. With our investment over the last two years in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Shanghai, we are now well positioned to capitalize on this market growth through a combination of global technology adapted for local markets and a strong Asian leadership team."

C&D(R) and msEndur II(R) are registered trademarks of C&D Technologies, Inc.

About C&D Technologies:

C&D Technologies, Inc. provides solutions and services for the switchgear and control (utility), telecommunications, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS), as well as emerging markets such as solar power. C&D Technologies engineers, manufactures, sells and services fully integrated reserve power systems for regulating and monitoring power flow and providing backup power in the event of primary power loss until the primary source can be restored. C&D Technologies' unique ability to offer complete systems, designed and produced to high technical standards, sets it apart from its competition. C&D Technologies is headquartered in Blue Bell, PA. For more information about C&D Technologies, visit http://www.cdtechno.com.

Forward-looking Statements:

This press release may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Words and expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Factors that appear with the forward- looking statements, or in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings (including without limitation the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2008, or the quarterly and current reports filed on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K thereafter), could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made herein.

SOURCE C&D Technologies, Inc.

CONTACT:
Shareholder Contacts Ian J. Harvie of C&D +1-215-619-7835 or Joseph Crivelli of Gregory FCA, for C&D +1-610-642-8253 or Rita Biehl Marketing Manager +1-215-619-7806 rbiehl@cdtechno.com or Ian Harvie, Chief Financial Officer +1-215-619-7835 iharvie@cdtechno.com both of C&D Technologies

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