Etrion Completes Phase One of Sale of Italian Solar Portfolio to EF Solare Italia
December 12, 2016, Miami, Florida, United States – Etrion Corporation (“Etrion” or the “Company”) (TSX: ETX) (OMX: ETX), a solar independent power producer, today announced that it has completed phase one of the previously disclosed sale of its Italian solar portfolio to EF Solare Italia, a joint venture owned equally by Enel Green Power S.p.A. and Fondo Italiano per le Infrastrutture “F2i”. EF Solare Italia has purchased Etrion S.p.A., which owns 53.4 MW of Etrion’s total portfolio in Italy, for cash consideration of Euro 73.1 million and the assumption of related project-level debt of Euro 198 million. Etrion expects to complete the balance of the sale (the 6.7 MW Helios ITA portfolio) in January 2017.
Etrion intends to use the sale proceeds to advance its solar development activities in Japan and to repurchase a portion of its outstanding corporate bond. In Japan, Etrion has 34 MW operational, 23 MW under construction and approximately 250 MW in its development pipeline. Etrion has a Euro 80 million corporate bond listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange that matures in April 2019 and pays 8% annual interest.
Marco A. Northland, Etrion’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The sale of the Italian assets demonstrates our ability to monetize solar assets at multiples of our original investment. The sale proceeds will allow us to accelerate our growth in Japan while, at the same time, deleveraging the company through our previously announced intention to repay part of our corporate bond.”
About Etrion
Etrion Corporation is an independent power producer that develops, builds, owns and operates utility-scale solar power generation plants. Adjusted for the sale of Etrion S.p.A., the Company owns 111 MW of installed solar capacity in Italy, Chile and Japan. Etrion has 23 MW of solar projects under construction in Japan and is also actively developing additional greenfield solar power projects in Japan. Etrion is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Exchange in Sweden under ticker symbol “ETX”. Etrion’s largest shareholder is the Lundin family, which owns approximately 24% of the Company’s shares directly and through various trusts.
For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.etrion.com or contact:
Paul Rapisarda – Chief Financial Officer
Telephone (Miami, FL, USA): +1 (786) 636-6449
Telephone (Geneva, Switzerland): +41 (22) 715 20 90
Note: The capacity of power plants in this release is described in approximate megawatts on a direct current (“DC”) basis, also referred to as megawatt-peak (“MWp”).
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Etrion discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication at 10:30 p.m. CET on December 12, 2016.
Forward-Looking Information:
This press release contains certain “forward-looking information”. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Etrion believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements relating to the proposed sale of Etrion’s Italian solar portfolio, the proposed advancement of Etrion’s Japanese development activities and the proposed repurchase of Etrion’s corporate bonds). This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of Etrion based on information currently available to it as well as certain assumptions (including assumptions as to the completion of the sale of the Italian portfolio, Etrion’s ability to advance its growth plans in Japan and Etrion’s ability to repurchase a portion of its corporate bonds). Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Etrion. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the risks that: the sale of the Italian project portfolio may not be completed; Etrion may not be able to obtain all applicable permits for the development of its current Japanese development projects; Etrion may not be able to obtain the necessary financing for such projects on economic terms and the development costs for such projects may be higher than anticipated; Etrion may not be able to source additional projects in Japan on economic terms to the extent anticipated; and the repurchase of Etrion’s corporate bonds may not be completed.
Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Etrion disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Etrion believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.