TSX.V Symbol: "WND"
OTCQX Symbol: "WNDEF"
Issued and Outstanding: 70,617,224
VANCOUVER, Feb. 12, 2013 /CNW/ - Western Wind Energy
Corp. -- (the "Company" or "Western Wind") (TSX Venture
Exchange -- "WND") (OTCQX -- "WNDEF") wishes to comment on last
night's announcement from Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P.
and its indirect subsidiary WWE Equity Holdings Inc. (together
"Brookfield").
Brookfield
acknowledged in a press release last night, that it had failed to
obtain the sufficient number of shares required under the Rules for
a Permitted Bid by an Insider, namely, acceptance by 50% of
independent shareholders of its bid of $2.60. Significantly, in its press release,
Brookfield deliberately omitted to
state the number of shareholders who had tendered to its bid, a
fact that we believe indicates that many shareholders decided to
reject their offer and confirms Brookfield's news release of January 28, 2013 where Brookfield confirms only 22% of the
shareholders have either tendered or may do so in the future. This
leaves more than 75% of shareholders who have said "NO" to the
Brookfield Offer. The Brookfield bid has been public since
November 23, 2012, with a nominal
increase of $0.10 per share made on
January 28, 2013, sufficient time for
shareholders to make an assessment.
Brookfield has
previously stated, three times, that their bid was a "final offer"
and that "time is running out". Brookfield has now extended its bid by ten
days as a result of its huge failure to obtain the required number
of tendered shares.
The shareholders have spoken that this offer is
inadequate and we continue to urge Brookfield to listen to what the shareholders
require. We understand the frustration of some
long-time shareholders but we reiterate that Western Wind is in
fact, for sale. Contrary to statements made by Brookfield, Western Wind's management is fully
committed to a sales process that will maximize shareholder
value. Yabucoa is proceeding towards Financial Close and
Brookfield does not want our
shareholders to receive any value for this asset or any other
significant asset.
As we have previously stated, Brookfield, as a large minority shareholder
and an insider making a hostile bid, has had the effect of
discouraging other potential bidders from proceeding because of its
ability to outbid potential bids, with its lower cost average. No
bidder wants to spend millions of dollars on following a process to
simply have Brookfield thwart any
attempt. If this is in fact Brookfield's last and final offer, Western
Wind believes that a formal publicized withdrawal of Brookfield's bid will unleash a true auction
for the Company. Alternatively, the door remains open for
discussions between Western Wind, its investment bankers and
Brookfield, on ways to increase
shareholder value.
By rejecting Brookfield's bid, shareholders have sent a
message about the inadequacy of its offer and the unfairness of its
tactics. As columnist Tom
Konrad, who writes for Forbes noted on February 4th, 2013, in a column entitled,
Brookfield's Revised Offer for
Western Wind Still Too Low, "C$2.50 a share was too low a price for Western
Wind in 2011, and C$2.60 is too low
for a stronger Western Wind today."
ABOUT WESTERN WIND ENERGY CORP.
Western Wind is a vertically integrated
renewable energy production company that owns and operates wind and
solar generation facilities with 165 net MW of rated capacity in
production, in the States of California and Arizona. Western Wind further owns substantial
development assets for both solar and wind energy in the U.S. The
Company is headquartered in Vancouver,
BC and has branch offices in Scottsdale, Arizona and Tehachapi, California. Western Wind trades on
the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "WND", and in
the United States on the OTCQX
under the symbol "WNDEF".
The Company owns and operates three wind energy
generation facilities in California, and one fully integrated combined
wind and solar energy generation facility in Arizona. The three operating wind generation
facilities in California are
comprised of the 120MW Windstar, the 4.5MW Windridge facilities in
Tehachapi, and the 30MW Mesa wind
generation facility near Palm
Springs. The facility in Arizona is the Company's 10.5MW Kingman integrated solar and wind facility.
The Company is further developing wind and solar energy projects in
California, Arizona, and Puerto
Rico.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
"SIGNED"
Jeffrey J. Ciachurski
President & Chief Executive Officer
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain statements contained in this news
release may constitute forward-looking information under applicable
Canadian securities legislation. These statements relate to
future events and are prospective in nature. All statements
other than statements of historical fact may constitute
forward-looking statements or contain forward-looking information.
Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by
the use of words such as "may", "will", "project", "predict",
"potential", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "targeting",
"intend", "could", "might", "seek", "anticipate", "should",
"believe" or variations thereof. Forward-looking information
may relate to management's future outlook and anticipated events or
results and may include statements or information regarding the
future plans or prospects of the Company.
Forward-looking information is based on
certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the
outcome of a hearing before the OSC, if such hearing occurs, the
results of a valuation, if obtained by Brookfield , and the availability of a
financially superior offer,. Several factors could cause
actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the
outcome of a hearing before the OSC, if such hearing occurs, the
results of a valuation, if obtained by Brookfield, may not be as anticipated by the
Company, actions taken by Brookfield, actions taken by the Western Wind
Shareholders in relation to the Offer, the possible effect of the
Offer on the Company's business, the outcome of the Company's
previously-announced sale process, and the availability of
value-maximizing alternatives relative to the Offer.
Additional risks and uncertainties can be found in the Company's
MD&A for the year ended December 31,
2011 and the Company's other continuous disclosure filings
which are available at www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or
events to differ materially from those anticipated.
Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the
forward-looking statements including, without limitation: the risk
that the outcome of a hearing before the OSC will not be in the
Company's favor, the results of the valuation, if obtained by
Brookfield, will not be as
anticipated by the Company, the progress of Western Wind's sales
process, and, assuming the Company receives an expression of
interest from a prospective purchaser, whether a financially
superior offer for Western Wind emerges, whether the Company is
able to successfully negotiate a prospective sales transaction and
whether the conditions of any proposed transaction, including
receipt by the Company of all necessary approvals, are met.
The Company believes that the expectations
reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news
release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that they
will prove to be correct. Actual results and future events
may differ materially from those anticipated and accordingly
forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon.
Forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as
of the date of this news release. Except as required by
applicable law, Western Wind disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking information.
SOURCE Western Wind Energy