Wirescan AS closes NOK 10 Million Financing Round

The investment complements the 25 MNOK round of financing from March this year, and will fuel the creation of additional applications for the oil and gas market and further growth of Wirescan’s unique cable-diagnosis and condition-monitoring technology. Investors in these financing rounds are Siemens Venture Capital, SåkorninVest and Schlumberger.

Halden, Norway – December 22, 2010 – Wirescan AS, a provider of products and services for diagnosis and condition monitoring of cables, announced today that it has secured NOK 10 million in a financing round with Schlumberger as new investor. Joining the Wirescan Board of Directors is Kjell-Erik Østdahl, Chief Procurement Officer, Schlumberger.

“This step will enable the company to accelerate market entry,” said Per Nossen, Managing Director of Wirescan. “As a result, we will be able to build a strong position and product portfolio in three important global markets: The investment and strategic collaboration agreement made by Siemens Venture Capital earlier this year will leverage market position within power transmission and distribution, and our relation with IFE and the OECD Halden Reactor Project gives us a unique position in nuclear power generation”.

Introduced to the market in 2008, the LIRA system assesses and monitors general degradation of cable insulation caused by harsh environmental conditions (high temperatures, humidity, radiation). It also detects local degradation of the insulation material as a result of mechanical impact or local abnormal environmental conditions. The LIRA system is unique in its ability to detect degradations and in its potential to test energized cables.

Wirescan has demonstrated the superior capabilities of its LIRA system for condition monitoring and fault finding on power, subsea and signal cables not only in Northern Europe, but also in the United States, Brazil and the Middle East, said Per Nossen, Managing Director of Wirescan, adding, “The combination of world class technology, a strong and dedicated staff, Norwegian seed capital from Procom Venture/SåkorninVest combined with investments, strategic alliance agreements and competence from both Siemens Venture Capital and Schlumberger puts Wirescan in a unique position to accelerate the development of the company”.

The LIRA technology was developed between 2004 and 2005 by the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Halden, Norway, as part of the international nuclear research program OECD Halden Reactor Project. The project’s aim was to develop a tool to assess the condition of cables used in nuclear power plants. “Wirescan AS was founded in 2005 to industrialize and commercialize this unique measurement technology,” said Lars Bjørn Larsen, Managing Director of IFE Venture and Chairman of Wirescan AS. “With the added market expertise from the investors, our focus going forward will be on four main industrial segments – transmission and distribution, oil and gas, wind and nuclear”.

About Wirescan AS

Wirescan AS provides products and services for diagnosis and condition monitoring of cables. The company was established in fall 2005 to industrialize and commercialize a unique technology developed by the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Halden, Norway. The founders were IFE and Procom Venture AS, Stavanger. Present shareholders also include Siemens Venture Capital GmbH, SåkorninVest, IFE Venture, Schlumberger BV and Procom Venture.

www.wirescan.no