RENO, Nev., April 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ormat Technologies, Inc.
(NYSE: ORA), today announced that on April 17, 2008 its wholly-owned
subsidiary, Ormat Nevada Inc., concluded the second closing under its
previously announced transaction to sell part-ownership interests in certain
geothermal power projects to affiliates of Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated
and Lehman Brothers Inc., as institutional equity investors. Under this
second closing, the Galena 3 geothermal project was transferred to OPC LLC,
and Ormat Nevada received an amount of approximately $64 million.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040422/LATH066LOGO)
This is the second tranche of a transaction to monetize production tax
credits of certain projects by bringing in institutional investors as equity
investors to own the projects jointly with Ormat Nevada. The first tranche was
previously announced in a press release dated June 12, 2007. As operator of
all of the projects in the OPC LLC portfolio, Ormat Nevada will now also
operate and maintain the Galena 3 project. Distributable cash flow generated
by the projects as well as the production tax credits and the taxable income
or loss associated with the projects, now including the Galena 3 project, will
be allocated between Ormat Nevada and the institutional equity investors in
the same proportions as previously established for the transaction. Once the
institutional equity investors reach a target after tax yield on their
investment in OPC, Ormat Nevada has the option to buy out the investors'
remaining interest in OPC at the then-current fair market value or, if
greater, the investors' "capital account" balance in OPC. Should Ormat Nevada
exercise this purchase option, it would thereupon revert to being sole owner
of all of the projects (including the Galena 3 project).
Commenting on the transaction, Dita Bronicki, Chief Executive Officer of
Ormat said: "We are very happy to have achieved this milestone of a second
closing for our OPC portfolio with our existing investors. Ormat remains
interested in exploring other opportunities to utilize this financing model in
our other projects under development and construction."
About Ormat Technologies
Ormat Technologies, Inc. is the only vertically-integrated company
primarily engaged in the geothermal and recovered energy power business. The
company designs, develops, owns and operates geothermal and recovered
energy-based power plants around the world. Additionally, the company designs,
manufactures and sells geothermal and recovered energy power units and other
power-generating equipment, and provides related services. The company has
more than four decades of experience in the development of
environmentally-sound power, primarily in geothermal and recovered-energy
generation. Ormat products and systems are covered by more than 75 patents.
Ormat currently operates the following geothermal and recovered energy-based
power plants: in the United States -- Brady, Heber, Mammoth, Ormesa, Puna,
Steamboat and OREG 1; in Guatemala -- Zunil and Amatitlan; in Kenya --
Olkaria; and in Nicaragua -- Momotombo.
Ormat's Safe Harbor Statement
Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating
to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future
events that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements
generally relate to Ormat's plans, objectives and expectations for future
operations and are based upon its management's current estimates and
projections of future results or trends. Actual future results may differ
materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and
uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk
Factors" as described in Ormat Technologies, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 5, 2008.
These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and
we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Ormat Technologies Contact: Investor Relations Contact:
Dita Bronicki Todd Fromer / Marybeth Csaby
CEO KCSA Strategic Communications
775-356-9029 212-896-1215 (Todd) /212-896-1236 (Marybeth)
dbronicki@ormat.comtfromer@kcsa.com/mcsaby@kcsa.comSOURCE Ormat Technologies, Inc.
Contact: Dita Bronicki, CEO of Ormat Technologies, Inc., +1-775-356-9029, dbronicki@ormat.com; or Investor Relations, Todd Fromer, +1-212-896-1215, tfromer@kcsa.com, or Marybeth Csaby, +1-212-896-1236, mcsaby@kcsa.com, both of KCSA Strategic Communications, for Ormat Technologies, Inc.