Canadian Solar Inc. today announced that it has completed the sale of 3 utility-scale solar farm holding companies, SSM 1 Solar ULC, SSM 2 Solar ULC, and SSM 3 Solar ULC, totaling 59.8MW AC ("SSM Portfolio") to Fengate SSM Holdco LP for over CAD257 Million (USD195.32 Million). The transaction was closed on February 1, 2017 and the Company expects to recognize the difference between the sales proceeds and the book value of the projects under 'Other income (expenses)' in the income statement for the first quarter of 2017.
The SSM Portfolio is located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. As part of the deal, Fengate will take over the outstanding debt from Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale and Canadian Solar will provide operations and maintenance services and asset management services.
Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented, "We are delighted to announce the successful sale of 3 additional solar power plants. To this point, we have sold all of our operating plants of 100 MWdc in Canada, including the BeamLight and Alfred projects sold in December 2016. We value our partnership with Fengate and look forward to deepening our cooperation while we continue to monetize our solar power plants in other countries."
"The Sault St. Marie solar portfolio is fully-contracted with a strong operating record," stated George Theodoropoulos, Fengate's Managing Director of Infrastructure for North America. "Fengate and its investors will benefit from this new relationship with Canadian Solar, an experienced and reputable developer and operator that has extensive knowledge of the solar industry."