Tilt Renewables announces A$260m capital return
Infratil Limited 5 Market Lane, PO Box 320, Wellington, New Zealand Tel +64-4-473 3663 Fax +64-4-473 2388 www.infratil.com
8 April 2020
Tilt Renewables announces A$260m capital return to shareholders
Attached is a market release from Tilt Renewables Limited (TLT) advising that TLT intends to
return approximately A$260m (approximately A$0.55 per share) to shareholders via a pro-rata
share buy-back.
Infratil is a 65% shareholder in TLT.
Any enquiries should be directed to:
Mark Flesher, Investor Relations, Infratil Limited mark.flesher@infratil.com
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Tilt Renewables GPO Box 16080
Phone: +61 1300 660 623 Collins Street West
tiltrenewables.com Melbourne Victoria, 8007
Australia
NZX AND ASX ANNOUNCEMENT
7 April 2020
A$260 MILLION CAPITAL RETURN TO SHAREHOLDERS
Tilt Renewables Limited (TLT) intends to return approximately A$260m (approximately A$0.55 per
share) to shareholders via a pro‐rata share buy‐back.
TLT’s balance sheet currently includes A$535m of unrestricted cash, largely made up of proceeds
from the sale of the Snowtown 2 Wind
Farm in December 2019. This cash sum does not include the
necessary cash commitments for the Dundonnell and Waipipi Wind Farms, which are currently under
construction and fully funded.
TLT’s strategic focus continues to be its leading role in the renewables transition in Australia and New
Zealand, and with a diverse
development pipeline of more than 3,000GW, TLT anticipates delivering
further quality investment opportunities for shareholders. TLT is also conscious of the ongoing need
for cash in order to fund those opportunities.
TLT has considered the capital required to progress its most promising mid‐to‐late stage development
projects, plus the
potential effects of COVID‐19 on operating and construction assets, to assess the
appropriate balance sheet capability and thus determine the level of excess capital which may be
better utilised if directly in the hands of shareholders.
Progress for the higher priority development projects is generally in line with expectations. The
most
immediate project of scale is the Rye Park Wind Farm (Rye Park) in New South Wales. TLT is preparing
an application to vary the projects’ planning approval, with a tip height modification to allow the most
efficient modern turbines to be used. TLT anticipates making an investment decision for
Rye Park in
2021. Other smaller scale development opportunities (including batteries) are also expected to
proceed to investment decision over the next 24 months, but with only minor equity funding
requirements.
TLT proposes to undertake the capital return by way of a Court approved scheme of arrangement in
accordance with Part
15 of the Companies Act 1993 (New Zealand). Such a scheme is fair to all
shareholders as it achieves a return of capital on a pro rata basis, leaving the relative voting and
distribution rights of all shareholders unaffected. This process will take approximately 15 weeks and
further information will
be provided as the process advances.
TLT Chief Executive, Deion Campbell said, “this is a great opportunity for TLT to let its 8,100
shareholders benefit directly from the highly successful sale of Snowtown 2, whilst still leaving plenty
of cash available for us to pursue growth opportunities, including from our industry
leading
development pipeline.” Mr Campbell also said, “the timing of this capital return would hopefully
provide some relief to any of our shareholders who might be struggling through the impact of COVID‐
19.”
Following the capital return the TLT business will still maintain a very strong balance sheet which is
highlighted as follows:
A$275 million of unrestricted cash available for pursuing growth opportunities
No debt refinancing occurring until November 2023
Gearing level post completion of projects currently under construction remains less than 40%
Healthy, largely contracted, annual cashflow from operating assets.
ENDS
For further information from Tilt Renewables, please contact:
Steve Symons
Chief Financial Officer
Tilt Renewables
Phone +61 419 893 746
Data sourced from publicly available filings. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.