Spain's T-Solar considers IPO to build plants abroad

 

Spanish solar energy producer T-Solar said on Monday it was considering listing its shares on Spain's small and mid-cap index in the next few months to fund the building of more plants abroad.

The announcement comes after travel booking firm Amadeus said March 23 it would carry out an initial public offering in the first half, ending a two-year IPO drought in Spain as the global market for new listings recovers.

T-Solar reported revenue of 128.7 million euros ($173 million) last year and EBITDA of 84.8 million euros and has invested 1.07 billion euros in its business since it started in 2006, it said.

The company has an installed capacity of 143.15 megawatts (MW) which it aims to quadruple in the next three years by building large solar plants in its target countries of Spain, Italy, France, India, the United States and Latin American.

"The company wants to fund its international expansion, leveraging its project pipeline, which currently consists of 664 MW in different stages of development, and on its sound network of partners in the countries where it already operates", said Chief Executive Juan Laso in a statement.

Global solar demand has recovered from a brutal 2009, when prices for the modules that turn sunlight into electricity tumbled by more than 40 percent as a glut of supplies and difficult financial markets slowed growth.

The group, whose shareholders include eight savings banks, and the builder Isolux Corsan, has hired Credit Suisse, Societe General and banks Sabadell and Mediobanca to advise on any IPO.

T-Solar designs and operates large-area solar photovoltaic plants and sells the electricity generated from them to utility companies.

It also manufactures thin-film amorphous silicon solar panels.