Israeli geothermal energy producer Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA; TASE: ORA) announced today that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire US Geothermal, Inc. (NYSE American:HTM), a renewable energy company focused on the development, production and sale of electricity from geothermal energy.
Under terms of the agreement, US Geothermal shareholders will receive $5.45 per share in cash. On fully diluted basis, including payment to US Geothermal’s option holders, Ormat will pay $109.9 million. The closing of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals and approval by persons holding a majority of the outstanding shares of US Geothermal common stock. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.
US Geothermal operates geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon, San Emidio, Nevada and Raft River, Idaho for a total designed net output of 45MW that currently generate approximately 38MW net. US Geothermal is also developing projects at the Geysers, California; a second phase project at San Emidio, Nevada; at Crescent Valley, Nevada; and the El Ceibillo project located near Guatemala City, Guatemala.
The operating assets are selling power under existing power purchase agreements at favorable price terms for the electricity, with an aggregated contract capacity of 55MW. Upon plans to improve the acquired portfolio and implementation of synergies and cost reductions Ormat expects to improve profitability of the operating projects by approximately 50% during 2019.
Ormat Technologies CEO Isaac Angel said, “This acquisition significantly broadens and diversifies our operations in the US, expanding our presence into Idaho and Oregon and giving us additional opportunities as we evaluate US Geothermal’s development pipeline. We are confident we can leverage our unique core capabilities to improve generation and efficiency at the existing plants, utilizing our expertise and proprietary technology. Finally, we have identified operational and financial synergies, efficiencies and cost reductions, based on US Geothermal’s current revenue level, enabling us to improve the profitability of these operations. With this transaction, we demonstrate again the implementation of our business strategy to grow our business with accretive M&A transactions and organic growth, underscoring our commitment to creating sustainable value for our shareholders.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 24, 2018
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018