Acquisition Establishes Sharp’s Global Solar Power Generation Platform
SAN FRANCISCO – (September 21, 2010) – Recurrent Energy and Sharp Corporation (TSE: 6753) announced today that they have reached a definitive agreement for Sharp to acquire Recurrent Energy, a leading solar project developer and generating company with a 2 GW pipeline. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of 2010, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
The terms of the agreement call for Sharp to pay up to $305 million in cash at closing, subject to balance sheet adjustments, to purchase a 100 percent stake from Recurrent Energy shareholders. Recurrent Energy is a Hudson Clean Energy Partners portfolio company. Other shareholders include Mohr Davidow Ventures.
As a leader in solar project development with a well-recognized name, Recurrent Energy will retain its name, operating as a subsidiary of Sharp. Arno Harris, CEO of Recurrent Energy, will retain his title and continue to lead the company following the acquisition. Mr. Harris will report to Toshishige Hamano, Sharp’s Executive Vice President responsible for overseas business. Recurrent Energy’s executive team and employees will also continue with the company.
“We are excited to have reached a definitive agreement for Sharp to acquire Recurrent Energy, a leading solar project developer and generating company with a 2 GW pipeline. It is essential for Sharp to function as a developer in the photovoltaic field, in order to further expand its business in this area. With Recurrent Energy’s know-how as a developer, Sharp aims to become a total solutions company in the photovoltaic field, extending from developing and producing solar cells and modules to developing and marketing power generation plants,” said Toshishige Hamano.
“We’re thrilled to reach this agreement with Sharp, a company known for its global leadership in solar technology,” said Arno Harris, CEO, Recurrent Energy. “Sharp’s support will help us to accelerate our growth and further cement Recurrent Energy’s goal to build the leading global solar generating company.”
Recurrent Energy has driven rapid growth of its development pipeline, with over 330 MW of contracted distributed-scale solar power projects including 170 MW with the Ontario Power Authority, 60 MW with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), and 50 MW with Southern California Edison, and announced projects and joint development agreements in Europe and the Middle East.
“We’ve enjoyed a tremendous partnership with the Recurrent Energy team and believe Sharp is the right partner to accelerate the growth of the business,” said Neil Auerbach, a Recurrent Energy director and Managing Partner at Hudson Clean Energy Partners.
About SHARP
Since its founding in 1912, Sharp has developed numerous world-first and Japan-first products, including the first Japan-made radios, TVs, and the world’s first all-transistor/diode desktop calculator. Sharp has contributed to society by commercializing these unique products.
Today, in addition to its core LCD TV business, Sharp is also focusing on its solar cell business. It has been more than 50 years since Sharp first started researching solar cells. Over this long period of time, solar cells made by Sharp have been used not only in residential and industrial applications, but also on lighthouses and satellites, thus proving their long-term reliability. Sharp constructed one of the world’s largest solar cell production facilities for thin-film solar cells at Sakai City in Osaka Prefecture, which started mass production in March 2010.
Sharp Corporation employs 65,000 people worldwide (as of July 31, 2010), and recorded consolidated annual sales of 2,755,948 million yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. For more information, please visit Sharp’s Web site at http://sharp-world.com/index.html.
About Recurrent Energy
Recurrent Energy is a leading solar project developer and generating company marketing clean power to utilities and large energy users. Located in San Francisco, Recurrent Energy is helping to meet rising energy demand by developing a global portfolio of clean power plants located where they are needed most. The company has a pipeline of over 2 GW of distributed-scale solar projects in development across North America and Europe. For more information on Recurrent Energy and distributed solar power, please visit www.recurrentenergy.com.
# # #
Media Contacts:
Sean Gibson
Bite Communications for Recurrent Energy
415-365-0395
[email protected]
Sharp Corporation
+81-6-6625-3006 (Osaka, Japan)
