US Solar Fund to explore potential sale, other options

US Solar Fund Plc (LON:USF) announced today it has hired financial advisers to help it consider all potential strategic options to maximise shareholder value, including the launch of a formal sale process for the entire company.

In a bourse filing on Monday, US Solar Fund explained that the move reflects its inability to grow its asset base because of “structural challenges in the US solar sector alongside a recent sustained discount of the share price to its net asset value.”

The board of the company has, thus, appointed Jefferies International Ltd and KeyBanc Capital Markets as joint financial advisers. At the same time, Cenkos Securities will act as a joint corporate broker.

USF’s statement says that the company is now considered to be in an “offer period” as defined in the Takeover Code, but pointed out that, at this point, it has not been approached with a proposal.

The company was set up in 2019 and listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange in April of that year. It owns and operates solar power assets in North America and other OECD countries in the Americas.

The current portfolio of USF consists of 42 operational solar parks with a combined direct current (DC) capacity of 543 MW, all located in the US. This includes the 128-MW DC Milford solar farm in Utah.

As of June 30, 2022, the net asset value of the company amounted to USD 321.2 million (EUR 330.6m).

US Solar Fund is managed, together with New Energy Solar Ltd (ASX:NEW), by New Energy Solar Manager Pty Ltd (NESM), which is owned by the fund management division of E&P Financial Group Ltd (ASX:EP1).

(USD 1 = EUR 1.029)

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