CARIBBEAN UTILITIES COMPANY,
LTD. CLASS A ORDINARY SHARES ARE LISTED FOR TRADING IN UNITED STATES FUNDS ON THE TORONTO STOCK
EXCHANGE.
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, May 4,
2015 /CNW/ - Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (TSX: CUP.U)
("CUC" or "the Company") announced today that it has successfully
completed its previously announced rights offering (the
"Offering"). Under the Offering and related stand-by agreement, CUC
raised gross proceeds of US$31,563,639 through the issue of 2,930,700
Class A Ordinary Shares at a price of US$10.77 per Class A Ordinary Share. After giving
effect to the Offering, CUC has an aggregate of 32,237,709 Class A
Ordinary Shares outstanding. Fortis Energy (Bermuda) Ltd. ("FEBL"), an existing
shareholder of CUC, purchased an aggregate of 2,169,682 Class A
Ordinary Shares under the Offering and a stand-by agreement with
the Company. FEBL now holds 19,460,326 Class A Ordinary
Shares, representing approximately 60.4% of the outstanding Class A
Ordinary Shares of CUC, which percentage holding increased
approximately 1.5% as a result of the Offering. FEBL is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortis Inc. of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
In October 2014, CUC won a
generation bid conducted by the Cayman Islands Electricity
Regulatory Authority and was awarded the right to build an
additional 39.7 megaWatts ("MW") of generation capacity (the
"Generation Expansion Project"). The approximate cost of the
Generation Expansion Project is US$85
million. In November 2014, CUC
closed on a US$50 million private
debt placement to provide initial funding for the Generation
Expansion Project. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of
the Offering (after payment of the expenses of the Offering) to
finance the remaining portion of the development of its new 39.7 MW
diesel power plant and other on-going capital expenditures.
Richard Hew, President and Chief
Executive Officer of CUC commented "We are pleased to complete this
offering with the support of our existing Class A Ordinary
shareholders, including the standby commitment made by FEBL". He
added, "This commitment by our shareholders provides the strong
financial base necessary to carry out the Generation Expansion
Project."
CUC provides electricity to Grand
Cayman, Cayman Islands,
under a non-exclusive Electricity Generation Licence expiring in
2039 and an exclusive Electricity Transmission and Distribution
Licence expiring in 2028. Further information is available at
www.cuc-cayman.com.
Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. ("CUC" or "the Company"),
on occasion, includes forward-looking statements in its media
releases, Canadian securities regulatory authorities filings,
shareholder reports and other communications. Forward-looking
statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend
upon future events or conditions, or include words such as
"expects", "anticipates", "plan", "believes", "estimates",
"intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts", "schedule", or
negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future
or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and
"could". Forward-looking statements are based on underlying
assumptions and management's beliefs, estimates and opinions, and
are subject to certain risks and uncertainties surrounding future
expectations generally that may cause actual results to vary from
plans, targets and estimates. Such risks and uncertainties include
but are not limited to operational, general economic, market and
business conditions, regulatory developments and weather
conditions. CUC cautions readers that actual results may vary
significantly from those expected should certain risks or
uncertainties materialize or should underlying assumptions prove
incorrect. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose
of providing information about management's current expectations
and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such
information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise except as required by law.
SOURCE Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd.