Exide Technologies (Princeton, NJ) announced that its European subsidiary, Exide Holdings Europe S.A., has sold its non-lead battery business to SAFT, a market leader for industrial and military non-lead batteries. SAFT is a subsidiary of Alcatel. The company stated that the sale and proceeds, which closed on April 15, 2003, will be used to reduce debt.
Exide said that the business consists of primary (non-rechargeable) lithium batteries, secondary (rechargeable) nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries, and primary and secondary silver-zinc batteries for military and industrial applications. The transaction involves the sale of Friemann and Wolf Batterietechnik GmbH, the NiCd business of Centra (Poland) and certain assets of Electro Mercantil Industrial S.L. (Spain).
Craig Muhlhauser, chairman and chief executive officer of Exide Technologies, said, "The sale of these operations is part of our ongoing effort to streamline and focus our business, while reducing debt and maximizing the value of our existing assets."
