Large Shareholder offers Private Placement in Windflow
NZX and Media Statement
27 September 2011
Large Shareholder offers to make Private Placement in Windflow Technology
Wolfgang Rehfus, a Swiss national who is a frequent visitor with business interests in New Zealand, holds 270,000 Windflow shares and is seeking to increase his holding to 400,000 shares with an investment of $50,000 by means of a private placement in addition to the $15,000 Share Purchase Plan. Some of Windflow’s existing shareholders meet the criteria for private placement and Windflow is approaching many of them regarding additional investment beyond or instead of the Share Purchase Plan (SPP).
Windflow Technology Ltd (Windflow) shareholders have been invited to invest between $3,000 and $15,000 in additional shares at $0.50 under the SPP which closes next Monday 3rd October 2011. Windflow’s cash reserves are running very low, and Windflow needs to raise a minimum of $2.4 million from the SPP and other sources (including such private placements) in order to provide the cash resources necessary to allow it to market its intellectual property and to maintain its presence in the UK in the expectation of a favourable outcome from the December 2011 Feed-in Tariff review, which is critical to unlocking the potential of the UK market.
In subscribing for his private placement, Mr Rehfus has provided the enclosed letter of support which he has asked to be made public so as to encourage other shareholders to “join in as well”. Mr Rehfus writes, “This is not a time to stop the project ‘Windflow’, but to rebuild the company”. Like any subscription under the SPP, Mr Rehfus’s private placement is conditional on Windflow having (or being likely to have) sufficient cash from the SPP and/or other new sources to remain solvent.
Windflow has achieved major technical success with its Windflow 500 turbine. In 2010 it received IEC (Edition 3) Class 1A certification and in 2011 Te Rere Hau wind farm (97 Windflow 500 turbines totalling 48.5 MW) was completed. The wind farm achieves availability figures above 95% in some of the most challenging wind conditions in the world.
Because of these technical achievements, Windflow has had substantial interest from overseas companies in licensing its technology, with one Fortune 500 company having been in discussions with Windflow since March.
Prospective licensing terms would provide the following
advantages to Windflow:
• License revenues with minimum
annual payments
• Revenue for engineering services for
product support and development
• The expansion of its
product range with the design of a new class 2 wind turbine
largely funded by the Licensee
• Credibility and brand
awareness arising from the license agreement and
manufacturing
• More rapid market development in the
huge North American market than Windflow could achieve from
its present base.
There will be shareholder meetings in Christchurch this Wednesday and in Auckland Thursday.
ENDS