Velan Ends the Lockout of Its Unionized Employees in Montreal

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - June 5, 2015) - (TSX:VLN) - On Friday June 5, 2015, unionized employees of Velan's plants in Montreal have accepted the recommendation of the mediator-conciliator nominated by the Ministry of Labour.

Therefore, Velan ends the lockout that it had declared on May 25.

"We are very happy that we were able to reach an agreement with our Montreal employees," said Sabine Bruckert, Vice President Human Resources. "The Conciliator appointed by the Minister of Labour made an interesting proposition to both parties with regards to operational excellence."

The agreement includes a joint Operation Improvement Committee that will coordinate the implementation of new work methods and the coordination of related training activities. It also stipulates that the parties will ask the Secretary of Labour to appoint a resource to support the Committee in its meetings.

"Our relation with our unionized employees, in Montreal as in Granby, has always been very good," notes Yves Leduc, President. "We are excited by the prospect of creating, in cooperation with the Union, better practices that will provide our Montreal plants with even better tools to fulfill the expectations of our customers around the world. Moreover, we have a production plan that will enable us to quickly recover the production lost during the lock- out, while our lead times for future customer orders are unaffected by the short work stoppage."

The new collective bargaining agreement will be in force for three years.

About Velan: Velan Inc. (www.velan.com) is a world-leading manufacturer of industrial valves with sales of U.S.$455.7 million in its last reported fiscal year. The Company employs over 2,000 people and has manufacturing plants in 10 countries. Velan Inc. is a public company with its shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol VLN.

Except for historical information provided herein, this press release may contain information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Company. These statements are based on suppositions and uncertainties as well as on management's best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors may include, without excluding other considerations, fluctuations in foreign currency conversion rates and general market trends or economic changes. As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results.