Ballard Announces Sale-Leaseback for Cash Proceeds of C$20.8 Million
February 08 2010 - 5:52PM
PR Newswire (US)
VANCOUVER, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ballard Power Systems
(TSX: BLD; NASDAQ: BLDP) announced that it has entered into a
sale-and-leaseback agreement with Madison Pacific Properties Inc.
(TSX: MPC) (http://www.madisonpacific.ca/). Ballard will sell its
head office building site in Burnaby, British Columbia in return
for gross cash proceeds of approximately C$20.8 million (US$19.5
million). The company will also enter into an initial fifteen-year
lease agreement for the same property. The transaction is expected
to close on March 9, 2010. Bruce Cousins, Ballard's Chief Financial
Officer, said, "This transaction presented an opportunity to
extract cash from a non-core asset and further fortify our strong
balance sheet, augmenting the company's cash reserves to
approximately $100 million. At the same time, Ballard's continued
use of the site is secured through a long-term lease arrangement."
John Sheridan, Ballard's President & CEO, added, "This
transaction, along with the monetization of our Share Purchase
Agreement and our progress in market development in 2009, has
positioned Ballard for strong performance in 2010. We continue to
expect revenue growth in excess of 35% and improved cash flow from
operations by 30% in 2010, and positive EBITDA performance during
2011." About Ballard Power Systems Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD;
NASDAQ: BLDP) provides clean energy fuel cell products enabling
optimized power systems for a range of applications. To learn more
about Ballard, please visit http://www.ballard.com/. This release
contains forward-looking statements, including estimated revenue
and cash flow from operations for 2010, which are provided to
enable external stakeholders to understand Ballard's expectations
as at the date of this release and may not be appropriate for other
purposes. These forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs
and assumptions of Ballard's management and reflect Ballard's
current expectations as contemplated under section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such assumptions
relate to Ballard's financial forecasts and expectations regarding
its product development efforts, manufacturing capacity, and market
demand, and include matters such as generating new sales,
producing, delivering and selling the expected number of units, and
controlling its costs. These statements involve risks and
uncertainties that may cause Ballard's actual results to be
materially different, including, without limitation, the condition
of the global economy, the rate of mass adoption of its products,
product development delays, changing environmental regulations, its
ability to attract and retain business partners and customers, its
access to funding, increased competition, its ability to protect
its intellectual property, changes in its customers' requirements,
foreign exchange impacts on its net monetary assets and its ability
to provide the capital required for product development, operations
and marketing. For a detailed discussion of these risk factors and
other risk factors that could affect Ballard's future performance,
please refer to Ballard's most recent Annual Information Form.
Readers should not place undue reliance on Ballard's
forward-looking statements and Ballard assumes no obligation to
update or release any revisions to these forward-looking
statements, other than as required under applicable legislation.
CONTACT: Investor Relations: Lori Rozali, (604) 412-3195, ; Public
Relations: Guy McAree, (604) 412-7919, DATASOURCE: Ballard Power
Systems Inc. CONTACT: Investor Relations: Lori Rozali, (604)
412-3195, ; Public Relations: Guy McAree, (604) 412-7919,
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