Hello. Welcome to Innergex Renewable Energy's pre-recorded conference call in connection with today's announcement of our first joint acquisition with Hydro-Québec under the Strategic Alliance, and concurrent bought deal equity financing and private placement by Innergex. Conducting this call for Innergex are Michel Letellier, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jean-François Neault, Chief Financial Officer. This call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although the corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions on which forward-looking statements are based are reasonable under the current circumstances, listeners are cautioned not to rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be given that it will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this call, and the corporation does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof, unless so required by law. During this call, we will refer to financial measures that are not recognized according to International Financial Reporting Standards. Please refer to the non-IFRS measures section of our latest MD&A for more information. We will spend some time on this call outlining the highlights of the acquisition and details on the Curtis Palmer facilities. We will also discuss how we plan to finance the acquisition and provide an overview of the concurrent equity offering and private placement we are announcing today. We have uploaded to our website at www.innergex.com a presentation that provides more details regarding our latest announcements, to which we will refer during this call. The presentation is also available on SEDAR. Hello, everybody. Very happy to be here, following the announcement of our first acquisition with Hydro-Québec. It's a hydro facility in N.Y., 60 MW composing with two facility, 1 48 MW and 1 12 MW. Very happy to have this asset now in N.Y. They are under a long-term contract with Niagara Mohawk until 2026 or 2027. Very good rate until the end of this PPA. After that, we think, with Hydro-Québec, we can have great marketing tools to create value also in the long run. The useful life of these assets, the biggest one was rebuilt in 1986. We've done our due diligence on these assets. We believe that they're there for a long time. We like, as you know, hydro. We like the fact also that we own the land, therefore we own the water rights, and it's just a matter of maintaining these assets. We see them as a perpetual asset, so it's great for the long run. Water license, we are operating under the FERC license that was put back in 2000, and for 40 years. The initial term is to 2040. We don't see any issue in being able eventually to extend that FERC license. Generating the energy in New York, we see that as very positive, and we see this joint venture with Hydro-Québec being able to create marketing value to these assets is great. That's the first acquisition for us in conjunction with this joint venture. We're starting in a very good spot where Hydro-Québec and us can put our expertise to work in New York. If you flip on page six, you see here the total portfolio of Innergex. You see that we have wind in France, we have hydro and wind assets in Quebec, Ontario, and B.C. Most recently, we've been playing a lot more in the U.S. market, and this acquisition is adding perfectly to our portfolio, both in terms of technology. We love hydro, so that's create about 5% increase in our portfolio of hydro, and it create also some diversification in hydrology. We love the hydrology in that area. It's on the Hudson River and the water area there is well-maintained. We have a few big lakes that are monitored artificially to monitor the water in that region. We like also the fact that this water basin is going to contribute in our diversification of our portfolio. Now turning on page seven, the investment thesis of this transaction, like I said, it's creating an increase of about 5% of our portfolio in hydro. This is great. We like to add and to create more diversification in technology. Furthermore, the contribution of the hydro segment in our EBITDA will move from 40%- 50%. That's a big step. Again, we like the idea of diversification in these things. It's also providing a great entry point in New York market, where Hydro-Québec has been active for so long, as everybody knows. I think that together we can create a lot of value on a long-term basis. We're very bullish on the fact that New York is proactive in trying to green its production of electricity, so we intend to take advantage of that, together with the ability and knowledge of the market of Hydro-Québec in New York. It's also immediately accretive to our payout ratio or cash on cash. It's going to help decrease by 10% our payout ratio. The free cash flow represents roughly 50% of the capital expenses during the initial period of the PPA. Although we have a short PPA, and we see a long-term value in that market, nonetheless, 50% of the capital investment is covered in the initial terms of the PPA. I think it's a warrant of long-term investment value and accretion in the long run for Innergex. It's also the first transaction on the joint venture we have announced a year and a half ago. It's not that we have not worked hard since then; markets are sometimes difficult. Now, we are very happy to conclude on this one. That's the first, certainly not the last. Very happy to have the help of Hydro-Québec in this transaction, looking forward to more in the future. On this, I would pass the presentation to Jean-François, who is going to explain a little bit more about the transaction. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Michel. Now I'm turning on slide eight. We would like to summarize several details of the transaction. The total consideration for Curtis Palmer is $310 million USD, or $388 million Canadian, which also includes a potential earn-out based on energy pricing in 2023 and 2024. The purchase price represents an implied Adjusted EBITDA multiple of $7.3 and an average free cash flow yield of 13% through the end of the PPA. Curtis Palmer is expected to generate an average annual Adjusted EBITDA of $42 million USD, or $53 million Canadian, and an average annual free cash flow of $39 million USD, or $49 million Canadian, through the end of the PPA. In terms of the financing plan, the acquisition will be financed through a 50/50 joint acquisition with Hydro-Québec under the Strategic Alliance and operated by Innergex. The assets will be acquired on an unlevered basis with Innergex fully funding the purchase price with equity. Concurrent with the announced acquisition, Innergex will raise approximately CAD 175 million through a public equity deal and CAD 44 million through a private placement. We expect the transaction to close in Q4 2021, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. Turning now to slide nine. We would like to address some of the important details of the concurrent equity offering and private placement that we've announced today. We've intent to fund the acquisition of Curtis Palmer in a prudent manner that provides for a meaningful accretion to shareholders while providing flexibility regarding future capital structure. Our proposed equity offering will satisfy all the common equity needs associated with our Curtis Palmer purchase. Based on our financing plan, we expect that the corporate leverage will be reduced by approximately 0.4x. Thank you very much, Jean-François. In conclusion, guys, we're very happy to have concluded on this. We're focusing, as you know, on creating value for our shareholders on a long-term basis. We've said also that M&A would be a good tool for us to rebalance our cash flow. This is a very good example, together with Mountain Air a year and a half ago, which had roughly the same cash profile. We're working on this together also with our great team to develop project to help bring more projects to late stage and under construction. Very happy with the advancement we've done last year on this front. Remember that we just put Hillcrest 200 MW solar project in service, Griffin Trail 225 MW wind farm in service just last month, working on construction on Hawaii Solar and Battery opportunity, also developing our pipeline of projects throughout France, Canada, U.S., and Chile. Very focused on creating long-term value for our shareholders, and this is a good example. Very also happy to have our first transaction with Hydro-Québec, and like I said, hopefully not the last. Thank you very much for the support. Really enthusiastic about this transaction. Thank you very much. Thank you.
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