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ARISE Announces Extension of
Commerzbank AG Credit Facilities
Waterloo, Ontario Canada, February 1, 2011 - ARISE Technologies Corporation (“ARISE” or the “Company”) (TSX: APV and Frankfurt: A3T), a leader in high-performance, high-quality, cost-effective solar technology, today announced that Commerzbank AG (“Commerzbank” or the “Bank”) has, subject to the fulfillment by February 28, 2011 of certain conditions and the approval by the banking committee of the Free State of Saxony, extended the Company’s loan facilities with the Bank until December 31, 2011. In addition, the Bank has proposed an extension of the Trust Agreement between the Bank and ARISE until April 30, 2011.
ARISE currently has outstanding loans in the amount of approximately €20.0 million (as at December 31, 2010) with Commerzbank through a working capital line and an equipment loan facility. The extension of the credit facilities is subject to a number of conditions, including the completion by February 28, 2011 of the following: (i) the deposit of €10.8 million from the recently completed equity financing into an account in Germany to be used for financing the purchase and installation of a third production line at ARISE Germany’s PV Cell manufacturing facility (“Line 3”); (ii) receipt of the binding commitment from a third party lender/investor in respect of €7.7 million of additional debt or equity capital for Line 3, of which €3.1 million has already been committed; and (iii) receipt of binding commitments or agreements in respect of bridge financing for expected government grants of at least €7.1 million (collectively, the “Extension Conditions”). In addition, the availability of the credit facilities will continue to be subject to fulfillment of certain financial covenants, including certain ARISE Technologies (Deutschland) GmbH (“ARISE Germany”) earnings performance covenants based on cumulative net income.
The Bank has also requested the amendment of the Trust Agreement to reflect that the Extension Conditions must be satisfied by February 28, 2011. The amended Trust Agreement is expected to terminate if the Extension Conditions are satisfied on or before February 28, 2011. Under the terms of the proposed amended Trust Agreement, failure to meet the Extension Conditions by February 28, 2011 would allow the Bank to transfer, prior to April 30, 2011, the shares in ARISE’s wholly owned subsidiary, ARISE Germany into a trust and to proceed with the sale of ARISE Germany.
The bridge financing required as part of the Extension Conditions is an amount sufficient to cover any lag time between the timing of payments made by ARISE in respect of implementing Line 3 and anticipated receipts from the Sächsische Aufbaubank – Förderbank (“SAB”), the development bank of the Free State of Saxony who ARISE is in discussions with respect to providing a portion of the funding required for Line 3. SAB has provided ARISE with a list of information required by SAB in connection with the proposed funding arrangement and the Company is currently working on providing the requested information to SAB.
The funds raised by ARISE in its recently completed public financing, together with committed mezzanine debt financing which ARISE expects to be in place within the next several weeks will be sufficient to satisfy the conditions (i) and (ii) of the Extension Conditions. ARISE is in discussions with several parties, to provide the bridge financing required under condition (iii) of the Extension Conditions, with a goal of finalizing such bridge financing arrangements by February 28, 2011.
“We are very pleased to have negotiated this extension to our credit facilities with Commerzbank,” said Dan Shea, ARISE’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
“As I stated during the Q3 2010 conference call, strengthening our balance sheet and preparing to increase PV cell production capacity are top priorities. This extension is an important step in our efforts to address our liquidity and prepare to ramp up production to meet customer demand for ARISE PV cells. Further to this I
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believe that these agreements are a good indication of the solid relationship that we have developed with Commerzbank,” he added.
About ARISE Technologies
ARISE Technologies Corporation, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is a leader in high-performance, cost-effective solar technology. The company operates through three divisions. The PV Cell Division manufactures PV (photovoltaic) cells at its first manufacturing plant opened in April 2008 in Bischofswerda, Germany. The division is developing proprietary technology with a target of achieving a step-by-step progression to a high-efficiency level of greater than 20%. The PV Silicon Division is using a proprietary method to produce silicon at 7N+ high-purity (99.99999% purity) for PV cell applications, based on a simplified chemical vapor deposition process. The division is focusing on scaling up its process to provide ARISE with control over its supply, costs, and quality. The PV Systems Division has been providing PV solutions for solar farms and rooftop installations since 1996 throughout North America. ARISE is planning to expand its systems business in Ontario under the Ontario FIT (Feed-In Tariff) program.
The Company’s shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol APV and on the Frankfurt Open Market Exchange under the symbol A3T. Additional information is available at www.arisetech.com and www.sedar.com.
Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors
Certain statements in this news release may be considered to be forward-looking. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations, estimations, and assumptions based on experience, trends, and other factors that are subject to the significant risks and uncertainties described in our regulatory filings. Please refer to these. Such risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, changing foreign exchange rates, actions by government authorities, the requirement for additional capital, risks associated with manufacturing, industry supply levels, competitive pricing pressures and misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements.
Risk factors relating to ARISE are discussed in the Risk Factors section of ARISE’s Annual Information Form and under the headings Liquidity and Capital Resources and Risk and Uncertainties in ARISE’s year-end Management’s Discussion and Analysis which are available at www.sedar.com. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on ARISE’s forward-looking statements.
ARISE assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.
ARISE Technologies Corporation
65 Northland Road, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2V 1Y8
Doug McCollam, Chief Financial Officer, (519) 772-5706
Doug.McCollam@arisetech.com
www.arisetech.com
Investor Relations:
Glen Williams
The Equicom Group
(416) 815-0700 x272
gwilliams@equicomgroup.com |
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