Kemet Announces Noncompliance with NYSE Market Capitalization Standard
Greenville, South Carolina (January 2, 2009) - KEMET Corporation (NYSE:KEM) announced today that on December 31, 2008, the Company was notified by the NYSE Regulation, Inc. that the Company's common stock will be suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") prior to market opening on Friday, January 9, 2009. The Company is out of compliance with one of the NYSE's applicable continued listing standards which requires maintaining an average market capitalization of not less than $25 million
over a consecutive 30 trading-day period. Previously, the Company had
announced that it had fallen below the NYSE's continued listing standard concerning share price. While the Company had six months in which to increase the share price back to compliant levels, NYSE standards do not provide a similar cure period for noncompliance with the market capitalization requirements. The Company does not intend to appeal the NYSE's decision and, consequently, it is expected that the common stock will be delisted from the NYSE following the NYSE's application to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Company expects that, following suspension from the NYSE, its common stock will continue to trade and be quoted on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's over-the-counter bulletin board (the "OTCBB") and/or on the Pink Sheets Inc.'s Pink Quote System (the "Pink Sheets"). There will be no gap in trading from the NYSE to one of the above over-the counter ("OTC") markets. The Company will provide a symbol for OTC trading in a few days.
"We expect there to be no disruption in our operations resulting from the change in our stock trading platform. We continue to be in full compliance with all of our lending arrangements," stated Per Loof, KEMET's Chief Executive Officer. "KEMET's commitment is steadfast in bringing value to our shareholders, producing quality products that are delivered with industry leading customer service to our customers, remaining a stable partner with our suppliers, and providing growth opportunity to our employees."
The delisting from the NYSE does not represent any change in the Company's current strategic plan. The Company will continue to file periodic and other reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission under applicable federal securities laws. Following the move to the OTCBB or Pink Sheets, KEMET will continue to be in compliance with the trading requirements for its common stock contained in its existing lending arrangements.
KEMET Corporation (KEM) applies world-class service and quality to deliver industry-leading, high-performance capacitance solutions to its customers around the world. KEMET offers the world's most complete line of surface-mount and through-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, film, aluminum, electrolytic, and paper dielectrics. Additional information about KEMET can be found at www.kemet.com .
Contact:
William M. Lowe, Jr.
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
864-963-6484
billlowe@kemet.com
Dean W. Dimke
Director of Corporate and
Investor Communications
954-766-2806
deandimke@kemet.com
