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  • Press Release

Underwriters Laboratories Acquires Wakefield Laboratories

November 3, 2008

NOTE: This information is from a previously printed press release, newsletter, or other dated document. It is presented here for archival purposes only.

NORTHBROOK, Ill., Nov. 3, 2008 -- Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), a world leader in product safety testing and certification services, announced today that it will acquire the assets of Wakefield Laboratories, an electrical testing laboratory located in Auckland, New Zealand. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

"The Wakefield acquisition will help strengthen our presence in the Australasia Region and support our customers in gaining global market access," said Keith Williams, UL's President and CEO. "In addition to its extensive accreditation capabilities, Wakefield has an experienced staff including skilled engineers who share our commitment to public safety. We look forward to welcoming them to the UL family."

Wakefield is well known in the Australasian marketplace and holds accreditation from International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ), Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) and is a recognized CB Testing Laboratory within the IECEE CB Scheme. Wakefield also has the necessary accreditation to conduct electrical safety testing for Singapore, Hong Kong and the European Union. The company has 20 employees, all of whom will be invited to remain with the company.

"We are excited about the opportunity to be part of a large global organization like Underwriters Laboratories," added Ken Wilson, Managing Director, Wakefield. "With the strength of the UL brand and its depth of expertise, we feel there are more opportunities for growth as a company and service to our customers on a global level."

About Underwriters Laboratories:
Underwriters Laboratories is an independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization that has been writing Standards for Safety, testing products and involved in conformity assessment for well over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 21 billion UL Marks appearing on 71,000 manufacturers' products in the global marketplace each year. UL has also issued nearly 9,000 registrations to management system standards and has performed more than 12,000 assessments in 63 countries. UL's worldwide family of companies and network of service providers includes 99 laboratories, testing and certification facilities serving customers with business operations on six continents.

About Wakefield:
Located in Auckland, New Zealand, Wakefield Laboratories is an electrical testing laboratory that has operated as a privately owned company for the last 42 years. Formed in 1966, Wakefield holds accreditation from International Accreditation New Zealand for electrical testing. It has the necessary accreditation to conduct electrical safety testing for the New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the European Union. The laboratory is recognized within the IECEE CB Scheme for testing in accordance with categories OFF, TRON, HOUS, MED and SAFE. In addition to this accredited testing, the company performs a range of non-standard or non-accredited testing such as the measurement of electromagnetic fields in accordance with EN 50336, which is performed for CE marking purposes only. For more information about Wakefield, visit www.wakelabs.co.nz.