GUELPH, Ontario, Feb. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc.
(the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the
world's largest solar power companies, today announced that it has
completed the sale of the outstanding shares of 3 utility-scale
solar farm holding companies, SSM 1 Solar ULC, SSM 2 Solar ULC, and
SSM 3 Solar ULC, totaling 59.8 MW AC ("SSM Portfolio") to Fengate
SSM Holdco LP, an affiliate of Fengate Real Asset Investments
("Fengate") for over CAD257 Million
(USD195.32 Million). The transaction
was closed on February 1, 2017 and
the Company expects to recognize the difference between the sales
proceeds and the book value of the projects under 'Other income
(expenses)' in the income statement for the first quarter of
2017.
The SSM Portfolio is located in Sault
Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. As part of the deal, Fengate
will take over the outstanding debt from Norddeutsche Landesbank
Girozentrale and Canadian Solar will provide operations and
maintenance services and asset management services.
Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented, "We are delighted
to announce the successful sale of 3 additional solar power plants.
To this point, we have sold all of our operating plants of 100 MWdc
in Canada, including the BeamLight
and Alfred projects sold in December
2016. We value our partnership with Fengate and look forward
to deepening our cooperation while we continue to monetize our
solar power plants in other countries."
"The Sault St. Marie solar portfolio is fully-contracted with a
strong operating record," stated George
Theodoropoulos, Fengate's Managing Director of
Infrastructure for North America.
"Fengate and its investors will benefit from this new relationship
with Canadian Solar, an experienced and reputable developer and
operator that has extensive knowledge of the solar industry."
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Founded in 2001 in Canada,
Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest and foremost solar
power companies. As a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic
modules and provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar also
has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power
projects in various stages of development. In the past 16 years,
Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 17 GW of premium
quality modules to over 90 countries around the world. Furthermore,
Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar
industry, having been publicly listed on NASDAQ since 2006. For
additional information about the company, follow Canadian Solar on
LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.
About Fengate Real Asset Investments
Fengate is a real asset investment firm that specializes in
investment funds with a strategic focus on infrastructure, real
estate and private equity. The firm has over $2.9 billion in assets under management with
significant experience in Public-Private Partnerships, independent
power projects, operating infrastructure assets and real estate
developments. Fengate targets high quality investments across
North America, Europe and Australia. Fengate has been one of
"Canada's Best Managed Companies"
since 2007.
Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release regarding the Company's
expected future shipment volumes, gross margins, business prospects
and future results, are forward-looking statements that involve a
number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe
Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking
statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates,"
"intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other
comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ include general business and economic conditions and the
state of the solar industry; governmental support for the
deployment of solar power; future available supplies of high-purity
silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory
levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from
significant customers; changes in demand from major markets such as
Japan, the U.S., India and China; changes in customer order patterns;
changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition;
pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in
new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval
process; delays in utility-scale project construction; cancelation
of utility-scale feed-in-tariff contracts in Japan; continued success in technological
innovations and delivery of products with the features customers
demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements;
availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation
and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings,
including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 20, 2016. Although the Company believes
that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements
are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of
activity, performance, or achievements. Investors should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information
provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless
otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update
such information, except as required under applicable law.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canadian-solar-completes-sale-of-3-utility-scale-solar-plants-to-fengate-real-asset-investments-300402349.html
SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.