H Power Corp. (Clifton, NJ) announced the formation of H Power Japan in partnership with Mitsui and Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) and Mitsui and Co. (USA) Inc. Both parties will have a 50 percent ownership in the newly created company, which will be a Japanese corporation headquartered in Tokyo.
H Power Japan's initial activity will be to conduct a nine-month feasibility study relating to the sale and distribution of H Power's fuel cell products in Japan and potentially to other countries. The feasibility study will include evaluating marketing strategies and business plans, developing an operating plan, and building a maintenance and monitoring network. All of the gathered market research data will provide the basis for sales, distribution and servicing of H Power's products and other related activities in Japan.
Concurrent with forming H Power Japan, Mitsui also disclosed that it had made an equity investment in H Power, purchasing an undisclosed number of shares in the open market.
H. Frank Gibbard, CEO of H Power, commented, "We are excited to see our relationship with Mitsui continue to flourish and strengthen as we expand our global presence. Given Japan's lack of traditional fossil fuel resources, Japan represents an enormous market opportunity for our alternative energy fuel cell products. Our continued expansion efforts and follow-on alliances with existing strategic partners are further evidence of the growing interest, acceptance and worldwide need for our fuel cell products. We are eager to commence with the feasibility study and we look forward to the possibility of distributing and marketing our products to new customers."
