Altair Nanotechnologies Closes Canon Investment Transaction

Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. ALTI today announced it had closed on a Share Subscription Agreement with Canon Investment Holdings Limited (Canon), through its affiliate, Energy Storage Technology (China) Group Limited (EST). Under the terms of the agreement, Altairnano issued 37,036,807 common shares to EST at $1.5528 per share, providing $57.5 million in proceeds to Altairnano. Following the closing of this transaction, there are 69,452,487 Altairnano common shares outstanding. On September 20, 2010, Altairnano announced that it had entered into the Share Subscription Agreement, as amended, under which Canon had agreed to purchase newly issued common shares of Altairnano, which resulted in EST owning 53.3 percent of Altairnano's common shares, 49.8 percent on a fully diluted basis, immediately following the closing. "While this transaction took considerably longer to close than expected, the Canon investment allows us to now focus on growing the business and creating shareholder wealth," said Terry Copeland, Altairnano president and Chief Executive Officer. Canon chairman Wei Yincang added, "The investment in Altairnano represents an important milestone for both companies to significantly grow our businesses and accelerate the commercialization of the Altair lithium-titanate technology."