Exide Technologies Enters Into Plea Agreement Over Business Dealings Of Prior Management

    PRINCETON, N.J., March 23 Exide Technologies
today announced that it has reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District of Illinois, ending an investigation of Exide
regarding past dealings between Exide's prior management and Sears Roebuck &
Company.
    In the settlement, Exide Illinois, Inc., a subsidiary of Exide
Technologies, agrees to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in
connection with batteries it manufactured and sold to Sears under a contract
that began in the fall of 1994.  Under the settlement, Exide will pay a fine
of $27.5 million, payable over five years with the first year's payment being
$3 million.  The government agrees that it will not prosecute any other
criminal charges against Exide for any matter relating to the contract between
Exide and Sears and/or any other matters currently known to the government as
a result of its investigation.
    "This agreement brings to a close investigations of Exide relating to the
questionable business practices of this company's former management team,"
said Robert A. Lutz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who joined Exide in
December 1998.  "There's a world of difference between the Exide of then and
the Exide of now.  We've replaced all managers who were implicated in any way,
and are ourselves pursuing legal action against the three top former
executives.  We have an all-new board of directors.  And we now have a zero-
tolerance ethics and integrity code.
    "We worked diligently with the government to ensure that the agreement we
reached would not impede Exide's ability to continue to serve our valued
customers in our key industrial and transportation markets, and to continue
our company's restructuring program," continued Lutz.  "We also believe that
the company can accommodate this settlement within its existing financial
capacity.  And, with it, we can now get back to concentrating our full and
undivided attention to our mission of becoming the premier provider of
electrical-energy storage solutions in the world."

    Editor's Note:
    A full copy of the Plea Agreement and of the Stipulation of Facts can be
obtained by contacting Tim Yost at 734-827-3282 or tyost@exideworld.com

    Exide Technologies is the global leader in providing stored electrical-
energy storage solutions.  With annual revenues of approximately $3 billion
and operations in 89 countries, the company serves both the industrial and
transportation markets.
    Industrial applications include network-power batteries for
telecommunications systems, fuel-cell load leveling, electric utilities,
railroads, photovoltaic (solar-related power) and other critical
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) markets; and motive-power batteries for a
broad range of equipment uses, including lift trucks (fork lifts), mining
vehicles and other commercial vehicles.
    Transportation uses include automotive, heavy-duty truck, agricultural,
marine and specialty batteries, as well as new technologies being developed
for hybrid vehicles and new 42-volt automobile applications.  The company
supplies both the transportation aftermarket and original-equipment market.
    Further information on Exide Technologies, its financial results and other
news can be found at http://www.exideworld.com.

    Certain statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking
statements as defined by the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  As
such, they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors,
which may cause the actual results of the company to differ materially from
any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  These
are enumerated in further detail in the company's Form 10-K.