LATHAM, New York, January 6, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), a leading provider of hydrogen fuel cells and power solutions that enable electronic mobility, and SK Group, one of South Korea’s leading business groups, announced today that the companies intend to form a strategic partnership to accelerate hydrogen as an alternative energy source to Asian markets. Through this partnership, Plug Power and SK Group intend to supply hydrogen fuel cell systems, hydrogen fuel stations and electrolyzers to the Asian and Korean markets. Along with this partnership, the companies have also signed a final agreement for SK Group to make a $ 1.5 billion strategic investment in Plug Power and announce a plan to form a joint venture in South Korea to support the fast-growing Asian market growing. The combination of the important presence and leadership of SK Group throughout the Asian energy industry and its strategic direction in the transformation of the portfolio into the green economy through hydrogen with the leadership of Plug Power in fuel cell systems d Hydrogen, fuel stations and green hydrogen generation represents a powerful team to accelerate the growth of hydrogen economy in Asian markets.
In January 2019, the South Korean government announced the Hydrogen Economy Roadmap to 2040, with ambitious goals, which include: more than 5MM tons of hydrogen per year, more of 6MM EV fuel cells, 1,200 charging stations and 15 GW of fuel cell power generation, and expects the cumulative economic value of its hydrogen economy to reach $ 40 billion by 2040. Plug Power has demonstrated its ability to scale a hydrogen business in North America as a world leader in the hydrogen economy. The opportunity to partner with SK presents an attractive and timely opportunity to establish a foothold in this market with one of South Korea’s leading industrial conglomerates.
“SK Group has an established strategy to develop the hydrogen economy in South Korea and beyond,” said Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power. “The current relationship with SK Group offers immediate strategic advantages to Plug Power to accelerate its expansion into Asian markets, and is intended to lead to a formal joint venture (JV) in 2022. Due to the complementary strengths of this partnership, we expect growth and significant revenue generation from the joint venture that will increase in our 2024 plan ”.
“Plug Power is a leading player in the hydrogen industry with decades of experience and a distinguished business model,” said Hyeongwook Choo, head of SK Holdings ’Hydrogen Business Development Center and president and CEO of SK E&S, a leading company in clean energy dedicated to renewable energies. power companies, LNG and power plants worldwide and subsidiary of SK Holdings. “This partnership between Plug Power and SK will provide significant and solid opportunities in the hydrogen industry, creating value for society. SK Group focuses and actively invests in the ESG sector and Plug Power would be one of our splendid footprints within this strategy ”.
This investment represents the largest net energy PIPE in the United States in the last 20 years (based on the PrivateRaise PIPE database for closed transactions and includes common stock, preferred stock, convertible preferred stock, and convertible debt). Additional investment details include:
Terms
Under the terms of the investment, a U.S. subsidiary of SK Group will make a $ 1.5 billion investment in Plug Power by acquiring approximately $ 51.4 million of common stock at a price of $ 29,2893 per share, the VWAP of 30 days from 5 January.th, 2021 with a zero percent discount. The investment is expected to represent a pro forma stake of approximately 9.9% in Plug Power.
Timing
The investment transaction is subject to the usual closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.
Advisors
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is a financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP is a legal advisor to Plug Power.
As for the power connection
Plug Power is building the hydrogen economy as a leading provider of turnkey integrated solutions for hydrogen fuel cells. The company’s innovative technology powers electric motors with hydrogen fuel cells amid a continuous paradigm shift in the energy, power and transportation industries to address climate change and energy security at the same time. which meets the sustainability objectives. Plug Power created the first commercially viable market for hydrogen fuel cell technology. As a result, the company has deployed more than 40,000 fuel cell systems for electronic mobility, more than anyone in the world, and has become the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen as it has built and operated a road of hydrogen throughout North America. Plug Power offers a significant value proposition to end customers, including significant environmental benefits, efficiency gains, fast provisioning, and lower operating costs. Plug Power’s vertically integrated GenKey solution brings together all the critical elements to power, nurture and provide service to customers such as Amazon, BMW, The Southern Company, Carrefour and Walmart. The company is now leveraging its knowledge, modular product architecture and foundational customers to quickly expand into other key markets, including zero-emission road vehicles, robotics and data centers. Learn more at www.plugpower.com.
Declaration of safe port
This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 involving significant risks and uncertainties about Plug Power Inc. (“PLUG”), including, but not limited to, statements about PLUG’s expectations regarding joint venture forecasts with SK, including when and whether the joint venture will occur, the scope and terms of the ‘joint venture and the growth and potential revenue related to the planned joint venture, the expansion into Asian markets and the planned timing for the closing of the investment operation. You are advised that these statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times or results of such results or results. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements. For an additional description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as the risks related to the PLUG business in general, see the public presentation of PLUG in Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” section of the PLUG Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Year Ended December 31, 2019 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for Quarters Ended on December 31, 2019 March 2020, June 30, 2020, and September 30, 2020 Readers are cautioned not to rely too heavily on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document, and PLUG has no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information.
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Contact with the media
Ian Martorana
The Bulleit Group
[email protected]