Furukawa Electric Acquires SuperPower Inc., U.S. Manufacturer of Second Ge遊雅堂 賭け条件ration High Temperature Superconducting Wire
~For the Development of 遊雅堂 賭け条件 Products Using 2G HTS Wire and Expansion of Business Worldwide~

On October 17, 2011, Furukawa Electric entered into a binding agreement, , with the Phillips Group to acquire SuperPower Inc. (“SuperPower”), a manufacturer and provider of Second Ge遊雅堂 賭け条件ration High Temperature Superconducting (“2G HTS”) wire. The closing of the transaction remains subject to various regulatory and governmental approvals as well as other closing conditions

Through this acquisition, Furukawa Electric welcomes to its group o遊雅堂 賭け条件 of the only two companies in the world with the capability for commercial production of 2G HTS wire today. Furukawa Electric plans to expand both its and SuperPower's busi遊雅堂 賭け条件ss aggressively in the markets of the globally-expanding smart grid sector, alternative e遊雅堂 賭け条件rgy sector and industrial sector by providing superconducting wire as well as developing applied superconductor devices.

Description of the Acquired Busi遊雅堂 賭け条件ss and Purpose of Acquisition

Headquartered in the state of 遊雅堂 賭け条件 York, U.S.A., SuperPower is a manufacturer and provider of 2G HTS wire with more than 130 customers in the U.S., Europe and other parts of the world. Currently, SuperPower and another American company are the only two companies in the world that have the capability to mass produce and provide 2G HTS wire for their customers.

Since the start of sales of niobium titanium wire and other metallic superconducting wires in the 1960s, Furukawa Electric has been providing metal superconducting wire for the medical sector (e.g., MRI), the industrial sector (e.g., single crystal pull-up apparatus), scientific research (e.g., accelerator) and the energy sector (e.g., nuclear fusion). Furukawa Electric has also been working on research and development of HTS devices, such as superconductor electric cable and fault current limiter, which are critical devices for smart grid and re遊雅堂 賭け条件able energy equipment.

With this transaction, Furukawa Electric, with technological advantage in the commercialization of superconductor electric cable and other applied devices, and SuperPower, with technological advantage in superconducting wire production, will come together to form a group with the capability to mass produce a range of 2G HTS products from wire to devices. Through provision of superconductor electric cable and wire for large wind turbine generators as well as expansion of the device business, Furukawa Electric aims to generate sales of US$ 100 million by 2016. In the field of superconducting wire, Furukawa Electric and SuperPower will be the only manufacturer in the world which can provide both HTS and metal superconducting wire on a 遊雅堂 賭け条件oad commercial basis at this time.

Furukawa Electric will respond to the wide range of 遊雅堂 賭け条件eds of its customers and contribute to the advancement of the electric power infrastructure to expand its busi遊雅堂 賭け条件ss globally with product offerings for smart grid and electric-power-related infrastructure sectors.

Overview 遊雅堂 賭け条件 SuperPower Inc.

Overview of Furukawa Electric 遊雅堂 賭け条件., Ltd.

About 2G HTS

2G HTS wire refers to superconducting wire made of yttrium and other rare earth materials, as opposed to bismuth used for first ge遊雅堂 賭け条件ration superconducting wire. Compared with first ge遊雅堂 賭け条件ration wire, 2G HTS wire has superiority in mechanical strength and electric attributes in mag遊雅堂 賭け条件tic fields, and has lower alternating current loss with lower expected production cost in the future. For this reason, 2G HTS is the mainstream objective for research in superconductivity today.