TORONTO, April 28 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", "Canadian Solar" or "we") (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced that it has signed strategic partnership agreements with the Bank of China, the Bank of Communications, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Under the agreements, each bank may provide up to RMB 5 billion in potential credit facilities that can be used to finance domestic and overseas solar projects where Canadian Solar is the provider of solar modules. Loans may also be used for trade financing, internal corporate projects or working capital. The maximum aggregate facility size in current US dollars is approximately $2.2 billion (RMB 15 billion). Each project submitted to the banks will undergo the banks' due diligence and approval process and detailed terms of the credit agreements will be negotiated before any credit facilities are granted. There is no assurance that any project proposal will be approved, and it is likely that each project will be financed under different terms and conditions. Canadian Solar is considering establishing a China holding company in order to more efficiently manage these and other transactions.
Dr. Qu, Chairman and CEO said: "We are pleased to announce the signing of these strategic partnership agreements in Suzhou today. At present, availability of cost effective debt financing is critical to the ongoing growth and development of the solar industry, especially solar project finance. While each project submitted to the facility will require individual approval, this facility nevertheless provides us with a potentially powerful tool to help the Company and our customers grow our businesses. We look forward to working with our Chinese and overseas banking partners and our customers worldwide."
About Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ)
Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar Inc. is a vertically integrated manufacturer of solar cell, solar module and custom-designed solar application products serving customers worldwide. Canadian Solar is incorporated in Canada and conducts all of its manufacturing operations in China. Backed by years of experience and knowledge in the solar power market and the silicon industry, Canadian Solar has become a major global provider of solar power products for a wide range of applications. For more information, please visit http://www.canadian-solar.com .
Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements for Canadian Solar
Certain statements in this press release including statements regarding expected future financial and industry growth are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future shortage or availability of the supply of high-purity silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers, including customers of our silicon materials sales; changes in demand from major markets such as Germany; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling price; delays in new product introduction; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F originally filed on June 3, 2008. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
