Unique Mobility Appoints Dr. Ernest H. Drew to Board
23 July 1999
Unique Mobility Appoints Dr. Ernest H. Drew to Board and Accepts Retirement of Two Directors; Selects The Wall Street Group, Inc. As Financial Public Relations Counsel
GOLDEN, Colo., July 23 -- UNIQUE MOBILITY. INC. (Amex: UQM),
an advanced power systems company specializing in clean air solutions, has
added Dr. Ernest H. Drew to its Board Of Directors and accepted the retirement
from the Board of Frank Hodsoll and H. J. Young, it was announced today by
Ray A. Geddes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Dr. Drew adds
significant industrial and management experience to our Board at a moment when
Unique Mobility is witnessing major growth in revenues, and anticipates the
near-term emergence of improved operating cash flow and EBITDA. Both Mr.
Hodsoll and Mr. Young have made important contributions to Unique during its
development stage, and we are grateful for their past involvement," Mr. Geddes
said. With these changes, the Board now has five members.
Dr. Drew was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Industrial Group of Westinghouse Electric Corporation until it was sold in
1998. Prior to that position, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of
Hoechst Celanese Corporation, a $7 billion revenue company headquartered in
Somerville, NJ, from 1988 to 1995. From 1995 to mid-1997, he was a member of
the eight-person senior executive management team at Hoechst AG, a $30 billion
revenue corporation in Frankfurt, Germany, where he had board responsibilities
for the chemical and advanced materials businesses, the Americas and Greater
China regions, and was chairman of the board's strategy committee.
Dr. Drew is a member of the Boards of Directors of Ashland, Inc., Public
Service Enterprise Group, Thomas Betts Corporation, and Johns Manville
Corporation. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Hampton University
and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. He was a member of President Bush's
Advisory Committee for Excellence in Education for Hispanic Americans.
Dr. Drew received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the
University of Georgia, and his Masters and Doctorate degrees in organic
chemistry from the University of Illinois. He served in the United States Air
Force from 1962 to 1965, attaining the rank of Captain. He is married and
lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Said Mr. Geddes: "It is clear that Dr. Drew's extraordinarily successful
career, and his vision and insights, will enrich the Unique Mobility Board and
benefit the company and its shareholders. Specifically, his outstanding
strategic and international experience and relationships will be of great
importance to our Company as we introduce our products in foreign markets.
The fact that over an extended period Dr. Drew has also been an open-market
purchaser of Unique Mobility securities and now holds a sizable investment
position speaks to his belief in the future of our Company, and we welcome him
to the Board of Directors."
Mr. Geddes also announced the selection of The Wall Street Group, Inc. as
new financial public relations counsel to Unique Mobility. The 40-year old
Wall Street Group is the nation's oldest financial public relation
organization, and specializes in counseling and guiding companies with
breakthrough technology and concepts. "WSG will direct communications to our
current shareholder base, as well as guiding the introduction of the company
to new audiences and potential financial constituencies in the United States
and some areas of Europe," said Mr. Geddes.
"Unique Mobility is on the threshold of emerging as a world class provider
of solutions for clean air power applications. Our portfolio of products and
technologies address billion dollar markets and important societal issues.
These include the introduction of battery-electric, hybrid-electric and fuel
cell-electric vehicles. A recently announced German joint venture will
shortly introduce a battery-electric, zero emission two-passenger cargo van as
well as a six-passenger commuter van. This venture is expected to be financed
in stages with a private placement of up to $50 million, if needed, and is
also expected to receive German government financial support. It will not be
dilutive to Unique Mobility shareholders. Products of this joint venture will
be distributed throughout continental Europe by a consortium of leading
franchised automobile dealers, already in place. We believe we have created
at Unique an infrastructure and a financing architecture that will support the
rapid introduction of our unusual product line," said Mr. Geddes.
Unique is a Golden, Colorado-based engineering concern which develops and
manufactures advanced power systems and electronic controls for automotive,
aerospace and industrial applications, many of which are focused on clean-air
solutions.
This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future
events or results. Readers are referred to the Risk Factors section of the
Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-67313) filed by Unique with
the SEC, which identifies important risk factors that could cause actual
results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements,
including Unique's history of operating losses, its ability to obtain
additional financing, competition, the Company's ability to integrate acquired
businesses into existing operations, Unique's ability to protect its
proprietary information, Year 2000 issues and Unique's limited experience in
manufacturing processes and procedures and marketing and distribution.