Toshiba and Landis+Gyr Take Another Step Toward the Smart Community

TOKYO, ATLANTA, and SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it has acquired privately-held Consert Inc., an intelligent energy management company that converts electric consumption in homes and small businesses into cost-effective clean sources of capacity and energy reserves for utilities. The purchase makes Consert a Toshiba subsidiary that will enhance Toshiba Group's smart community business in the United States. Operations in North America will be integrated with Landis+Gyr, the leading global provider of integrated energy management products and a Toshiba Group company.

Consert, through its Virtual Peak Plant™ (VPP) offering, is able to deliver a fully-integrated, intelligent load management solution for utilities. VPP provides improved forecasting and capacity management, real-time outage management information, remote service connections and significantly improves customer service as well as end-consumer communications and energy efficiency.

"Consert is an ideal fit with Toshiba, a global leader in power generation, and the acquisition will add a new level of technology to our smart community business," said Takeshi Yokota, Toshiba Corporation Executive Officer and Corporate Vice President. "Smart community is a fundamental solution that includes energy management on both the demand and supply sides, along with management of transportation, water and in the medical field. Consert adds significantly to our smart community portfolio and advances our ability to propose industry-leading solutions in power supply and demand. We are now better positioned to support major utilities in generating and delivering stable power supply and to ensure end-user environments that optimize energy use and maximize energy savings."

"We are pleased to be integrating the business and employees of Consert into the Landis+Gyr America's team, while their know-how and technology will be used throughout Toshiba—and in particular within the Smart Community Division," commented Richard Mora, Landis+Gyr's President and CEO for the Americas region. "We see the addition of the VPP as an important extension of our current offering and our first true demand response platform. Customer interest in this solution, allowing their consumers to manage energy better, is extremely high."

Roy Moore, Consert's Co-founder and Chief Development Officer added, "This step by Toshiba and Landis+Gyr is a huge milestone for our employees, partners and owners. It validates what our customers already know about the VPP—it is a solution designed to create and leverage a smarter grid."

About Toshiba
Toshiba is a world-leading diversified manufacturer, solutions provider and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products and systems. Toshiba Group brings innovation and imagination to a wide range of businesses: digital products, including LCD TVs, notebook PCs, retail solutions and MFPs; electronic devices, including semiconductors, storage products and materials; industrial and social infrastructure systems, including power generation systems, smart community solutions, medical systems and escalators & elevators; and home appliances. Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 550 consolidated companies, with 202,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing 6.1 trillion yen (US$74 billion). Visit Toshiba's web site at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm

About Landis+Gyr
Landis+Gyr is the leading global provider of integrated energy management products tailored to energy company needs and unique in its ability to deliver true end-to-end advanced metering solutions. Today, the Company offers the broadest portfolio of products and services in the electricity metering industry, and is paving the way for the next generation of smart grid.  With annualized sales of more than US$1.6 billion, Landis+Gyr, an independent growth platform of the Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502) and 40% owned by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, operates in 30 countries across five continents, and employs 5,200 people with the sole mission of helping the world manage energy better. More information is available at landisgyr.com.

About Consert
Consert converts electric consumption in homes and small businesses into cost-effective, clean sources of capacity and energy reserves for utilities. The Consert load management solution is based on real-time, wireless technology that allows participants to conserve energy using a web-based, home area network. Consert utilizes wireless networks to provide real-time communication to the Consert data center. These highly secure networks deliver fast data speeds and increased efficiencies for utilities.

SOURCE Landis+Gyr