ContourGlobal PLC Spanish CSP announcement and Trading Update (6469J)

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RNS Number : 6469J

ContourGlobal PLC

06 December 2018

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS DEFINED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014.

6 December 2018

ContourGlobal plc

Sale of minority interest in Spanish Concentrating Solar

Power Facilities, and Trading Update

Minority Sale: Overview of Transaction

ContourGlobal plc today announces that it has reached an agreement to sell a 49% interest in the company's 250 MW Concentrated Solar Power facilities ("CSP assets") in the southwest of Spain to a fund advised by Credit Suisse Energy Infrastructure Partners AG ("CSEIP").

The total consideration payable for the 49% stake is c. EUR134 million to be paid in cash. This represents a premium of c. EUR65 million to ContourGlobal's proportionate net investment in the 49% stake of c.EUR69 million.[1] Completion of the transaction is expected to occur in one or more closings subject to the satisfaction of various customary closing conditions which are expected to be fulfilled by the end of the second quarter of 2019.

As part of the agreement, ContourGlobal will continue to manage, operate and maintain the five assets.

Trading Update

Business performance has been good despite renewable resources performing below plan in certain markets. We remain comfortable with the indicated guidance range for 2018 of Adjusted EBITDA of $600-630 million on a constant currency basis.

As at 30 September the financial metrics specified under our corporate bond indenture are a Non-Guarantor Leverage Ratio of 3.8x and a Debt Service Coverage Ratio of 7.6x.[2] The company expects its net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio to be approximately 4.5x as of 31 December.

Joseph C. Brandt, President and Chief Executive Officer of ContourGlobal, said:

"We are very pleased to expand our partnership with CSEIP in Europe with our second sale of minority interests this year. CSEIP is a committed long-term partner and leading investor in the infrastructure field, combining deep industry expertise with unique sourcing and distribution capabilities. We look forward to extending our partnership into new markets.

We continue to see opportunities to enhance shareholder returns and redeploy capital into our significant growth pipeline by selling minority stakes in our global portfolio of businesses to dedicated infrastructure investors looking to invest long-term with strategic operating partners."

CSP Transaction Details

CSP assets

Developed and commissioned between 2009 and 2012, the CSP assets comprise five independent 50MW solar plants located in southwest Spain, producing clean energy equivalent to the electricity demand of around 161,000 homes. Acquired from Acciona in May 2018, the plants have an average remaining regulated lifetime of 18 years and are regulated under the Spanish renewable remuneration scheme, guaranteeing long-term stable and regulated cash-flows.

Financial Impact

The value of the gross assets attributable to the CSP assets was EUR1.1 billion as at 30 June 2018 and EBITDA and profit before tax (unaudited) attributable to the Facilities were EUR110 million and EUR26 million respectively for the year ended 31 December 2017, in each case on a 100% basis.

ENQUIRIES

Investor Relations - ContourGlobal

Ross Hawley

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

Media - Brunswick

Charles Pretzlik/Emily Trapnell

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

Important Notice

Certain information contained in this announcement, including any information as to ContourGlobal's strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance constitutes "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as, "aims", "anticipates", "assumes", "believes", "budgets", "could", "contemplates", "continues", "estimates", "expects", "intends", "may", "plans", "predicts", "projects", "schedules", "seeks", "shall", "should", "targets", "would", "will" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places throughout this announcement and include, but are not limited to, express or implied statements relating to ContourGlobal's business strategy and outlook; ContourGlobal's future results of operations; ContourGlobal's future financial and market positions; expectations as to future growth; general economic trends and other trends in the industry in which ContourGlobal operates; the impact of regulations on ContourGlobal and its operations; and the competitive environment in which ContourGlobal operates.

By their nature, forward-looking statements are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, whilst considered reasonable by the Directors and the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated, expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect the Directors' and the Company's current view with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Directors and the Company disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement to reflect any change in their expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which such statements are based unless required to do so by applicable law, the UK Prospectus Rules, the UK Listing Rules, the UK Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 . You are cautioned against placing undue reliance on any forward-looking statement in this announcement.

[1] Contour's net equity balance reflects a priority distribution of approximately EUR40 million from the assets occurring in the first quarter of 2019.

[2] Capitalized terms have the meaning defined in the indenture of the EUR750,000,000 ContourGlobal Power Holdings SA Senior Secured Notes maturing in 2023 and 2025.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

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December 06, 2018 02:06 ET (07:06 GMT)