Canadian Solar Successfully Issues a JPY 18.5 Billion Green Samurai Private Placement in Japan

GUELPH, ON, Oct. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced the successful placement of a JPY 18.5 billion green samurai private placement ("private placement"). Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. ("GS"), was the lead arranger and sole book runner with the domestic bond investors.

The private placement has a 3-year tenor with a mix of both semi-annual fixed (1.82% p.a.) and floating (circa 1.49% p.a.) coupons.

The Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. ("JCR") has assigned this structured bond with an investment grade rating of "A-". Also importantly, JCR certified the issuer with the highest Green 1 rating under the Japanese Green Bond guidelines. Orix Bank Corporation has been appointed as the trustee.

Canadian Solar has been a seasoned project bond issuer in Japan and had closed seven transactions for its ground mounted solar projects totaling over forty billion Japanese yen since 2016.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar commented, "This is another ground-breaking green bond transaction brought to the Japanese market by Canadian Solar and we are very pleased to receive strong support from leading Japanese financial institutions, which demonstrates their confidence in the growth prospects of Canadian Solar. We are well positioned to access competitively priced funding, supported by the strength of our business, and this bond provides us with enhanced liquidity and flexible funds to grow Canadian Solar's Recurrent Energy's global business through our well-established solar and battery storage development track record and financing capabilities."

Makoto Ito, Head of Financing Group, Goldman Sachs Japan commented, "We are honored to contribute to Canadian Solar's ongoing growth. Since helping to arrange its debut green project bond issue in 2016, we have strived to provide differentiated and innovative solutions to support Canadian Solar in achieving its business objectives. Renewable energy is a dynamic sector where creativity and the ability to think outside of the box are critical to success. We look forward to continuing to partner with Canadian Solar in its quest to create a more sustainable planet for future generations."

About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 22 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 102 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Likewise, since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built, and connected over 9 GWp of solar power projects and over 3 GWh of battery storage projects across the world. Currently, the Company has approximately 700 MWp of solar power projects in operation, 8 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 17 GWp of projects in advanced and early-stage pipeline. In addition, the Company has a total battery storage project development pipeline of 52 GWh, including approximately 2 GWh under construction or in backlog, and an additional 50 GWh at advanced and early-stage development. Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry, having been publicly listed on the NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the Company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.

Safe Harbour/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include general business, regulatory and economic conditions and the state of the solar and battery storage market and industry; geopolitical tensions and conflicts, including impasses, sanctions and export controls; volatility, uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic; supply chain disruptions; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of high-purity silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand from major markets, such as Japan, the U.S., China, Brazil and Europe; changes in effective tax rates; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; changes in corporate responsibility, especially environmental, social and governance ("ESG") requirements; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in or failure to timely adjust average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; delays in the completion of project sales; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features that customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange and inflation rate fluctuations; uncertainties related to the CSI Solar carve-out listing; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 18, 2023. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.