Canadian Solar raises capital for modules unit ahead of China listing

Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) has arranged to raise CNY 1.78 billion (USD 261.4m/EUR 223.3m) for its subsidiary CSI Solar Co Ltd and completed a management reshuffle as it prepares to list the modules and system solutions (MSS) business in China.

The solar tech company said Wednesday that China-based third-party investors have agreed to purchase existing CSI Solar shares for an aggregate of CNY 1.50 billion, while a number of Canadian Solar employees will buy the shares for CNY 31 million.

In both cases, CSI Solar’s equity is valued at CNY 7.50 billion.

Eligible employees and board members at CSI Solar will provide additional capital after subscribing to newly issued shares for CNY 248 million at a 30% valuation discount, or CNY 5.25 billion.

Canadian Solar chairman and CEO Shawn Qu said the company will use the capital to expand its manufacturing capacity to support its targeted shipments of 18 GW to 20 GW for 2021.

Following the closure of the transaction, Canadian Solar will hold a 74.9% stake in CSI Solar. Third-party investors, Canadian Solar employees and CSI Solar employees will own 20.0%, 0.4% and 4.7%, respectively.

Ahead of the planned listing, Canadian Solar appointed Yan Zhuang as president and Guangchun Zhang as senior vice president for operations and technology of CSI Solar, effective September 29. Both executives have stepped down from their positions in Canadian Solar.

At the same time, Leslie Li Hsien Chang joined Canadian Solar’s board as an independent director and was appointed to CSI Solar’s board along with Zhang and Zhuang.

(CNY 1.0 = USD 0.147/EUR 0.125)

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