Polaris has acquired 83.16% of the issued and outstanding shares of Hidroelectric San Jose de Minas S.A., in exchange for $16.3 million in cash, including closing adjustments. Polaris intends to seek to purchase the remaining shares outstanding in the next 12 months. San Jose de Minas is an operating run-of-the-river hydro project with a capacity of 6.0 MWs, located along the Cubi River in San Jose de Minas, Ecuador. San Jose de Minas has debt outstanding of $6.1 million with a local bank.
In addition to the acquisition of the operational project, Polaris Renewable Energy has formalized a development framework agreement with the selling shareholder to jointly pursue further hydro projects in the Ecuadorian market. The initial target of the partnership will be the upcoming renewable energy tender for 500 MWs by the Ecuadorian government in the fourth quarter of 2022.