SunPower Appoints New Board Members (USA)

SunPower Corp. announced the appointment of six new board members following completion of Total’s  all cash tender offer on SunPower, expanding its board of directors to 11. Today’s announcement follows antitrust clearance without conditions by the European Commission regarding Total’s all cash tender offer.

Following are the six Total executives who have joined SunPower’s board:

*Arnaud Chaperon, with more than 30 years tenure with Total, currently serves as the senior vice president of new energies for the Gas & Power division of Total. Previously, he was the managing director for five years of Total E&P Qatar and country representative of the Total group, which has oil, gas, and petrochemical assets and operations in the State of Qatar.

*Bernard Clement, with more than 27 years tenure with Total, currently serves as its senior vice president of gas assets, technology, and research & development for the Gas & Power division of Total. Previously, he was vice president of the exploration & production division of Total relative to its interests in the Middle East.

*Denis Giorno, with more than 35 years tenure with Total, currently serves as vice president of new ventures for the Gas & Power division of Total. Previously, he was vice president, business development, of the Gas & Power division relative to Total’s interests in Asia, South America, and Africa.

*Jean-Marc Otero del Val, with more than 12 years at Total, currently serves as general manager of the Grandpuits Refinery for Total. Previously, he was the managing director for Total Coal South Africa (Pty) Ltd., a subsidiary of Total that focuses on the mining of export quality coal in South Africa.

*Reinhard Schneider, with more than 25 years tenure with Atotech, currently serves as its chief executive officer. Atotech is one of the world’s leading suppliers of integrated product systems and services for electroplating, semiconductor, and printed circuit board manufacturing, and is a subsidiary of Total.

*Humbert de Wendel, with more than 29 years tenure with Total, currently serves as senior vice president of corporate business development. Previously, he was a vice president for Total, overseeing finance operations of its exploration and production subsidiaries.

SunPower President and CEO Tom Werner, who was named chairman of the board after the Total tender offer was announced, will continue to serve as chairman of the board. Dr. Uwe-Ernst Bufe, who has served as a member of the SunPower board since 2008, resigned from the SunPower board immediately following the European Commission’s antitrust clearance to accommodate the appointment of Total’s nominees.

Total consummated the tender offer on June 21, 2011 by purchasing 60 percent of each class of SunPower’s common stock, but was not permitted to exercise its voting rights, nominate a majority of SunPower’s board, or exercise other control rights until the European Union clearance.

About SunPower

SunPower Corporation  designs, manufactures and delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels and systems available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company’s quarter century of experience and guaranteed performance to provide maximum return on investment throughout the life of the solar system. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

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Source: SunPower Corporation, July 05, 2011;