GUELPH, ON, Sept. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar
Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ),
announced today that the Company has agreed to a RMB 1.78 billion (approximately US$260 million at current exchange rates) capital
raising for its Module and System Solutions ("MSS") subsidiary, CSI
Solar Co., Ltd. ("CSI Solar"). This capital raising is an important
step for CSI Solar to qualify for the planned carve-out IPO in
China, and brings in leading
institutional investors and strategic partners (the "Third-Party
Investors"), including CDH Investment Management Company Limited
and SIP Oriza PE Fund Management Co., LTD, among others.
The Third-Party Investors have agreed to purchase existing CSI
Solar shares from the Company for an aggregate of RMB 1.50 billion (US$219
million) at an equity valuation of RMB 7.50 billion (US$1.1
billion). At the same time, a number of Canadian Solar
employees ("CSIQ Employees") will also purchase existing CSI Solar
shares from the Company for an aggregate of RMB 31 million (US$4.5
million) at the same valuation.
In addition, eligible CSI Solar employees and board members have
collectively agreed to subscribe to newly issued CSI Solar shares
via platforms set up in accordance with CSI Solar's employee stock
ownership plan (the "ESOP") for an aggregate of RMB 248 million (US$36
million) at a valuation discount of 30%, or RMB 5.25 billion (US$768
million).
Immediately after closing, Canadian Solar, the Third-Party
Investors, CSIQ Employees and ESOP platforms will respectively own
74.9%, 20.0%, 0.4% and 4.7% of CSI Solar. The Company's wholly
owned global project development business, its Energy subsidiary,
is not part of this transaction or future planned carve-out IPO of
the MSS business.
Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and
CEO of the Company, commented, "The successful completion of this
fundraising, which we believe fairly values our MSS business, marks
an important milestone for Canadian Solar and takes us one step
closer towards the planned listing of our MSS business, or CSI
Solar, in China. It will also give
us the capital to immediately expand our manufacturing capacity
with the most advanced manufacturing technologies available to
support our targeted 18GW to 20GW in shipments for 2021. We believe
this strategy will allow us to expand our market share, sustain and
enhance our future pricing power and maintain better control over
our manufacturing costs. We are thankful for the strong support
from our new investors and partners and look forward to continuing
to create sustainable value for our shareholders."
Following the closing of this transaction, Canadian Solar will
actively prepare for the planned listing pursuant to relevant laws
and regulations in China.
Meanwhile, the Company remains fully committed to its shareholders
and NASDAQ listing and will remain the majority and controlling
shareholder of CSI Solar after its planned IPO in China.
About CDH Investment Management Company Limited
Established in 2002, CDH is one of the leading alternative
investment fund managers focused on China with over US$21
billion of assets under management, as of December 31, 2019. Over the past 18 years, CDH
has expanded to become a diversified alternative asset management
platform covering private equity, real assets, venture and growth
capital, mezzanine and credit finance, public equities and wealth
management. CDH has more than 150 investment professionals working
in offices in Hong Kong,
Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. CDH has invested in more than 200
companies and has helped more than 70 companies successfully list
on international and China's stock
exchanges. CDH strives to become one of the most respected
alternative asset management platforms in Asia.
About SIP Oriza PE Fund Management Co., LTD
Oriza PE is a private equity investment company and the
market-oriented investment platform of Oriza Holdings, a leading
investment company founded in 2001 with over RMB 80 billion in assets under management. Oriza
PE's investment strategy is based on integrating capital and
industrial resources to achieve attractive returns to its investors
and deliver strategic value to its portfolio companies. Oriza PE
specializes in investing in hi-tech firms in the manufacturing and
consumer sectors, with a focus on artificial intelligence, big
data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things. Over the years,
Oriza PE has successfully invested in over 50 companies and helped
nearly 20 companies list on public stock exchanges.
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar
power companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic
modules and provider of solar energy solutions and has a
geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale solar power
projects in various stages of development. Over the past 19 years,
Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 46 GW of
premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers in over
150 countries. 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.
Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release 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; delays in
the completion of project sales; delays in the process of
qualifying to list the MSS subsidiary in the PRC; 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 28, 2020. 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.
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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.