CHICAGO, Aug. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces
the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the
Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events
impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently
featured in the blog include: Evergreen Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:
ESLR), First Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) Energy Conversion
Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: ENER) Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG)
and Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO).
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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:
Evergreen Solar Files Chapter 11
Evergreen Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR) announced that it had
voluntarily filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the
U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company has been on a slippery slope over
the past two years.
Evergreen Solar faced with a market flooded with cheap Asian
competition, continued to register losses. The company tried to
stem the tide by relocating its manufacturing base from its high
cost Massachusetts factory to
Wuhan, China.
The USP for Evergreen Solar has always been its proprietary
crystalline silicon technology known as String Ribbon, which uses
approximately half the silicon for manufacturing wafers, compared
to peers using the conventional sawing method. However, with the
steep decline in silicon prices, the advantage gradually lost its
shine. Lastly, the pain became worse for the company in recent
times as key markets like Germany
and Italy were gradually winding
down their subsidy programs.
Evergreen Solar filed the petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court
for the District of Delaware. In
conjunction with the Chapter 11 filing, Evergreen Solar stated that
it entered into a restructuring support agreement with certain
holders of more than 70% of the outstanding principal amount of its
13% Convertible Senior Secured Notes.
Under the restructuring, an entity formed by the note holders,
ES Purchaser LLC, entered into an asset purchase agreement with
Evergreen Solar. ES Purchaser will bid for the assets being sold
under the Bankruptcy Code. If better offers for the assets are not
obtained, ES Purchaser is expected to acquire most of the company's
assets pursuant to the asset purchase agreement.
As part of Evergreen Solar's reorganization activities, the
company will reduce its U.S. and European workforce by about 65
people, including suspension of operations at its Midland, Michigan filament facility.
However, it's Wuhan, China
manufacturing facility is expected to continue depending on market
demand. At the same time the company will engage in discussions
with its investors in China
regarding the fate of the facility and its sources of
financing.
Evergreen Solar engages in the development, manufacturing and
marketing of solar power products worldwide, including solar cells,
panels and photovoltaic systems.
These modules are designed for a range of solar electric power
applications, including water pumping, communications, outdoor
lighting, rural electrification, recreational vehicles and
stand-alone applications. The company sells its products through
distributors, system integrators, and other value-added resellers.
Its products are sold primarily in the U.S. and Europe.
Evergreen Solar currently has a short term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold)
in line with peers like First Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) and
Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: ENER). Over the
longer run, we maintain our Underperform recommendation on
Evergreen Solar shares.
Transocean to Buy Aker
Offshore-oil driller Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG)
announced plans for an all-cash acquisition of Norway's Aker Drilling ASA for 7.93 billion kroner or $1.46 billion along with a net debt of
$800 million. The purchase price – of
26.50 kroner per share – represents a
62% premium to Aker Drilling's
30-day average price of 16.39 kroner
per share.
This deal marks the biggest acquisition on part of Transocean in
the last four years and will be executed through its wholly owned
subsidiary Transocean Services AS. The purchase will lend
approximately $1.05 billion to
Transocean's contract backlog and is expected to be immediately
accretive to its earnings.
The to-be acquired company, Aker
Drilling, owns and operates two harsh-environment,
ultra-deepwater semi-submersible rigs – Aker Barents and Aker Spitsbergen – contracted
to Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) and Det
Norske in Norway.
Aker Drilling also has two
ultra-deepwater drillships under construction in South Korea that are slated for delivery in
2013.
Management of Switzerland-based
Transocean remains highly optimistic about this deal and believes
that the acquisition will render the company's fleet a commanding
position in offshore drilling.
We believe that following the purchase, Transocean will possess
a technologically advanced fleet of drilling rigs that will be
capable of operating in tough of Arctic and Brazilian waters.
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