Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited Change in Board - New Director

RNS Number : 1509M
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited
13 September 2012
13 September 2012
Board Changes
Mr Alasdair Locke to be appointed as Director
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (AIM / ASX: CFU) a leading developer of generators that use fuel cell technology to convert natural gas into electricity and heat for homes and other buildings, is pleased to announce that Mr Alasdair Locke has agreed to be appointed as a Non-Executive Director and proposed Chairman.
Mr Locke, based in London, is the founder and former Executive Chairman of Abbott Group plc, an oil services company which he founded in 1990. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1995 until its sale in 2008 for GBP906 million to a US Private Equity fund. At the time of the sale, Abbott Group was one of the leading oil drilling service and engineering contractors in the world employing over 8000 people and operating in over 20 countries.
Mr Locke's career started in investment banking at Citigroup in 1974, where he specialised in shipping and oil. He is also Chairman of Argenta Holdings plc, an unlisted holding company which trades in the Lloyds of London Insurance Market and non-Executive Chairman of Hardy Oil and Gas plc.
Mr Locke has personally invested in each of the Company's fundraising rounds since 2009 and he has a beneficial interest in approximately 67 million shares in the Company (approximately 4.9 percent of the Company's issued shares).
Mr Locke's appointment as Director will be formalised after the Company has released its Directors' Report for the 2012 financial year. This will be released before the end of September.
The Board intends to appoint Mr Locke as Chairman at the next Annual General Meeting, to be held in late October. Mr Locke will also become a member of the Board Audit Committee and Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. The current Chairman, Mr Jeff Harding, and Deputy Chairman, Mr Roy Rose, will retire at the Annual General Meeting.
Mr Locke said: "I am looking forward to joining the Board and to playing my part in taking the Company forward. My experience has been in guiding companies through the exciting and at times challenging growth stage, from market entry into commercial scale production and sales. I look forward to contributing this experience to Ceramic Fuel Cells."
Ceramic Fuel Cells' Chairman, Mr Jeff Harding, said: "We are delighted to welcome Alasdair. He has strongly supported the Company and the Directors are very pleased that he has agreed to make a further commitment to Ceramic Fuel Cells by joining the Board. After five years as Chairman I am proud to be able to hand over to someone with Alasdair's experience and capability as the Board and Management focus on the Company's key markets in Europe. During my time as Chairman, we have achieved a number of firsts including developing and commercialising the BlueGen generator - which has the highest electrical efficiency of any comparable-sized generator in the world. We have also made significant inroads into the very large European markets. The outlook for the next stage in Ceramic Fuel Cells' development is exciting and we are particularly well positioned to capitalise on this potential. I would also like to acknowledge Mr Roy Rose for his valuable contribution as a Director and Deputy Chairman over the last three years."
Full details as required by the AIM Rules will be provided by separate regulatory announcement on Mr Locke's formal appointment.