Alien Technology Obtains $35 Million in New Investments and Appoints New CEO


Company Names Chris Chang as New CEO

MORGAN HILL, Calif., Oct 09, 2014Alien Technology, an industry leader in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) products and services, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement that will result in $35 million in new investments via an international joint venture. The new funds are aimed at helping accelerate company growth through the increased development of new technologies. The additional investments will also help provide Alien a solid financial foundation, demonstrating Alien shareholder confidence in the RFID market and affirming Alien’s growing leadership position within that market.

Both the new investor, Shanghai Ruizhang Investment Co., Ltd., and Alien’s current investors believe the company has a strong brand, an exceptional team and a leading product portfolio that includes RFID chips, tags, readers and services. The investors also believe in future growth in the RFID market and the position that Alien can attain in the industry. Alien remains an independent operating company with its headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA, and no operational changes are planned.

The Alien Technology Board of Directors also announced today that Chris Chang has been appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Alien, Chang was responsible for overseeing Marvell Technology Group’s business strategy, sales and marketing, business development and government relationship for the Greater China Region. At Marvell, Chang drove key strategic partnerships with China service providers and industry players that resulted in double-digit revenue growth. Chang earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from The Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin.

“Our goal has been to find strategic investors that not only bring funds, but also add other value to our business, and we have identified Ruizhang that meets these needs. We believe that this capital injection makes Alien one of the strongest pure-play RFID companies in the industry,” said Chang. “Alien remains totally committed to the UHF Passive RFID market, our customers, partners and suppliers. This investment enables the current industry-leading Alien team to accelerate our strategy of driving new technologies and innovations into the market to the benefit of our customers and partners.”

“Alien was a key, founding father of the passive RFID Industry, authoring the Gen 1 Class 1 standard and serving as a key driver of the current Gen 2 standard. Alien is the only company in the industry that designs its own IC, Inlays and Readers, and the company has been instrumental in the recent retail item-level adoption expansion,” said Ann Grackin of ChainLink Research. “We expect the UHF market to grow over 28 percent a year over the next five years. The market needs laser focus and innovations that a company such as Alien can bring to the volume RFID market. With this kind of funding, explosive market adoption is suddenly within reach.”

About Alien Technology

Founded in 1994, Alien Technology is a leading technology and product provider of UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Integrated Circuits (IC), tags, readers and professional services. Alien Gen 2 products, along with software solutions from partners, help solve business problems for customers to improve productivity, processes, security and asset tracking for closed-loop and supply chain systems. These solutions are implemented in industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail apparel, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense, and more. Alien’s facilities include corporation headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; the Alien RFID Solutions Center in the Dayton, OH region; and a sales office in Shanghai, China. Alien is a member of EPCglobal.

                                                                                   

Alien, Alien Technology, Higgs and the Alien logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Alien Technology Corporation in the United States and other countries.