Michael Phillips Appointed Vice Chairman

Xerium Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:XRM), a leading global manufacturer of clothing and roll covers used primarily in the paper production process, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Stephen R. Light, Xerium’s President and Chief Executive Officer, as its Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Board also has appointed Michael Phillips, who has served as a director since December 1999, to the new position of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. John S. Thompson, who stepped down after serving as board chairman since July 2004, will continue to serve as a director.

“The entire board and I are very grateful to John for his stewardship during times of momentous change and progress, including the IPO, a major debt refinancing, and a smooth transitioning to new leadership,” commented Stephen R. Light. “We look forward to continuing to benefit from John’s wisdom and experience as an active member of our board. All of us at Xerium are fully committed to moving forward with our recently announced strategic repositioning, which calls for us to improve this company’s financial strength and operational efficiency to the benefit of our numerous stakeholders, which includes all of our employees, suppliers, customers, and shareholders.”

Mr. Light joined Xerium as President and CEO, as well as a director, in February 2008. Prior to joining Xerium, he completed a highly successful turnaround of Flow International Corp. (NASDAQ:FLOW), the world's largest producer of industrial waterjet cutting and cleaning equipment. Mr. Light also served as President and CEO of OmniQuip Textron, and held senior level management positions at General Electric, Emerson Electric and N.V. Phillips.

Mr. Phillips is a partner with private equity firm Apax Partners Beteiligungsberatung GmbH, which is an affiliate of Apax Europe IV GP Co. Ltd., the beneficial owner of approximately 54.3% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Xerium Technologies. Mr. Phillips joined Apax Partners in 1992, he is a member of the global Executive Committee and Apax Approval, Investment and Exit Committees and he leads the Munich office.

Mr. Thompson has served as a director and chairman of the Board since July 2004. He served as Chief Executive Officer of SPS Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of specialty fasteners, assemblies, precision components, metalworking, magnetic products and superalloys listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”), from April 2002 to December 2003, when he retired.