Master Battery Announces New Alliance with Exide Technologies (4/13/09)

4/13/2009

Knoxville, TN – April 13, 2009 – Master Battery, LLC, www.masterbattery.com, a diversified battery sales, service and recycling company, today announced a new alliance with Exide Technologies, (NASDAQ: XIDE, www.exide.com), a global leader in stored electrical-energy solutions.

Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Master Battery has locations in Knoxville, Tennessee and in Johnson City, Tennessee, while its recycling division provides safe battery recycling services to customers throughout East Tennessee.

As part of the new agreement, Exide’s Industrial Energy Americas division will supply Master Battery lead-acid batteries for a broad range of motive power applications. In addition to sales of batteries for motive power applications, Master Battery will provide battery service and preventative maintenance programs for its motive power customers.

In the materials handling industry, the batteries are used to power lift trucks; various types of pallet trucks and stackers; order pickers; reach trucks; and mobile utility work platforms. These quiet, powerful, zero-emission vehicles are an integral part of modern materials handling. Other applications for the batteries are airport ground-support equipment, passenger shuttles, delivery vehicles, wheelchairs and floor-scrubbing equipment.

“Exide has a strong track record in serving the specific needs of our customer base,” said John Bondy, Vice President of Motive Power Sales for Exide Technologies. “As Master Battery works to aggressively expand its industrial offerings, Exide will continue to build upon this relationship, maintaining our focus on making our new customer more competitive and more successful.”

“Our new alliance with Exide Technologies enables us to offer our customers a comprehensive range of technologically-advanced products and services,” said Will Kegley, President of Master Battery. “We look forward to providing our customers with an expanded line of products from one of the most respected manufacturers in the industry.”

About Master Battery
Master Battery, LLC, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, operates 3 business divisions. Master Battery’s retail division operates a store in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a store in Johnson City, Tennessee, and provides a wide range of batteries and services to consumers and commercial customers, while its recycling division provides safe battery and other recycling services to customers throughout East Tennessee. With this new alliance with Exide Technologies, Master Battery now operates a motive power division and will provide sales and service to motive-power customers throughout East Tennessee.

About Exide Technologies
Exide Technologies, with operations in more than 80 countries, is one of the world's largest producers and recyclers of lead-acid batteries. The Company's four global business groups -- Transportation Americas, Transportation Europe and Rest of World, Industrial Energy Americas and Industrial Energy Europe and Rest of World -- provide a comprehensive range of stored electrical energy products and services for industrial and transportation applications.

Transportation markets include original-equipment and aftermarket automotive, heavy-duty truck, agricultural and marine applications, and new technologies for hybrid vehicles and automotive applications. Industrial markets include network power applications such as telecommunications systems, electric utilities, railroads, photovoltaic (solar-power related) and uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and motive-power applications including lift trucks, mining and other commercial vehicles.

Further information about Exide, including its financial results, are available at www.exide.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, this press release may be deemed to contain “forward-looking” statements. The Company desires to avail itself of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) and is including this cautionary statement for the express purpose of availing itself of the protection afforded by the Act. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement in this or any prior forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, (a) projections of revenues, cost of raw materials, income or loss, earnings or loss per share, capital expenditures, growth prospects, dividends, the effect of currency translations, capital structure and other financial items, (b) statements of plans and objectives of the Company or its management or Board of Directors, including the introduction of new products, or estimates or predictions of actions by customers, suppliers, competitors or regulating authorities, (c) statements of future economic performance and (d) statements of assumptions, such as the prevailing weather conditions in the Company’s market areas, underlying other statements and statements about the Company or its business.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following general factors such as: (i) the Company’s ability to implement and fund based on current liquidity business strategies and restructuring plans, (ii) unseasonable weather (warm winters and cool summers) which adversely affects demand for automotive and some industrial batteries, (iii) the Company’s substantial debt and debt service requirements which may restrict the Company’s operational and financial flexibility, as well as imposing significant interest and financing costs, (iv) the litigation proceedings to which the Company is subject, the results of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company and its business, (v) the realization of the tax benefits of the Company’s net operating loss carry forwards, which is dependent upon future taxable income, (vi) the fact that lead, a major constituent in most of the Company’s products, experiences significant fluctuations in market price and is a hazardous material that may give rise to costly environmental and safety claims, (vii) competitiveness of the battery markets in North America and Europe, (viii) risks involved in foreign operations such as disruption of markets, changes in import and export laws, currency restrictions, currency exchange rate fluctuations and possible terrorist attacks against U.S. interests, (ix) general economic conditions, (x) the ability to acquire goods and services and/or fulfill labor needs at budgeted costs, (xi) the Company’s reliance on a single supplier for its polyethylene battery separators, (xii) the Company’s ability to successfully pass along increased material costs to its customers, (xiii) the loss of one or more of the Company’s major customers for its industrial and transportation products; (xiv) recently adopted U.S. lead emissions standards and the implementation of such standards by applicable states; and (xv) the ability of the Company’s customers to pay for products and services in light of liquidity constraints resulting from global economic conditions and restrictive credit markets.

Therefore, the Company cautions each reader of this press release carefully to consider those factors set forth above and those factors described in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K filed on June 9, 2008 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed on August 8, 2008, November 6, 2008 and February 4, 2009, because such factors have, in some instances, affected and in the future could affect, the ability of the Company to achieve its projected results and may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed herein.