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Company Stands Behind Its Chemical-free ec-H2O™ Technology

MINNEAPOLIS, June 17, 2013 — Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC), a world leader in designing, manufacturing and marketing solutions that help create a cleaner, safer, healthier world said today that it will likely appeal a recent German court decision in Kärcher’s lawsuit regarding advertisements of Tennant Company’s proprietary ec-H2O™ technology, a chemical-free cleaning solution based on the established science of electrolysis.

“Although we have not seen the final written decision of the court we believe it is, respectfully, based on incomplete and inaccurate information. The two laboratory bench tests performed by the court appointed advisor had no or too little correlation to cleaning with a scrubber-dryer using Tennant’s ec-H2O chemical-free technology,” said Chris Killingstad, President and CEO of Tennant Company.

Tennant Company continues to stand behind its advertisements of the ec-H2O technology based on extensive internal and external tests and the experiences of customers who have years of experience cleaning with ec-H2O, according to Killingstad.

Tennant maintains that the two laboratory bench tests performed by the court appointed advisor were seriously flawed. The first test had no applicability to Tennant’s ec-H2O chemical-free technology as the test is typically used to measure properties in traditional chemical cleaners. The second bench test--even if properly performed--has little correlation to cleaning with a scrubber-dryer, regardless of the cleaning solution, including ec-H2O.

In addition, the soil sample – comprised of 90% fat and 10% insoluble pigment - could not be cleaned by a scrubber-dryer even if using a concentrated degreasing agent. “A laboratory test or bench test in isolation of real-world conditions cannot in and of itself accurately reflect the variability present in a customer’s real-world environment,” Killingstad said.

Killingstad continued, “Tennant ec-H2O customers include many of the world’s largest and most successful professional cleaning and facility service providers. Real world operation remains the test that truly matters and our customers are the true judges of performance.”

Tennant Company introduced its proprietary ec-H2O technology in 2008. ec-H2O is based on the established science of electrolysis. The U.S. Patent office has issued more than 800 patents for water electrolysis, several of which belong to Tennant Company. With scientific testing done by five laboratories on two continents, ec-H2O has been shown to clean better than tap water and as well as a general purpose cleaner in many applications. ec-H2O customers include many of the world’s largest and most successful professional cleaning and facility service providers. As of the end of 2012, Tennant had more than 3,500 ec-H2O customers across the globe, 40,000 ec-H2O scrubbers in the marketplace and $444 million (USD) cumulative ec-H2O sales. For more information, please go to www.ec-H2OFacts.com

 

Company Profile

Minneapolis-based Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC) is a world leader in designing, manufacturing and marketing solutions that help create a cleaner, safer, healthier world. Its products include equipment for maintaining surfaces in industrial, commercial and outdoor environments; chemical-free and other sustainable cleaning technologies; and coatings for protecting, repairing and upgrading surfaces. Tennant's global field service network is the most extensive in the industry. Tennant has manufacturing operations in Minneapolis, Minn.; Holland, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; Uden, The Netherlands; the United Kingdom; São Paulo, Brazil; and Shanghai, China; and sells products directly in 15 countries and through distributors in more than 80 countries. For more information, visit www.tennantco.com.

 

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