Tocardo-Tribute share swap sinks

Tocardo’s T2 tidal array at Eastern Scheldt (Photo: Tocardo)

 
Dutch tidal energy developer Tocardo International will not become a fully-owned subsidiary of Canadian company Tribute Resources as the parties fail to reach final share swap agreement.

Tribute said on January 2, 2018, that the nonbinding agreement setting forth the basic terms and conditions for a share exchange of Tribute shares for the remaining 53.5% of the issued and outstanding shares of Tocardo will not be proceeding forward.

Namely, the companies have in July 2017 executed a term sheet that outlined conditions under which Tocardo was to become a fully-owned subsidiary of Tribute which already owns 46.5% of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of Tocardo.

Tribute added that it will continue to hold these shares in Tocardo, with the possibility that the Dutch developer could be chosen as the turbine supplier for the Minas Tidal Project under an engineer, procure, construct (EPC) arrangement.

“Tribute and Tocardo have been unable to reach agreement on the final definitive agreements required to facilitate the share swap and therefore as at this time the share swap with Tocardo will not be proceeding. Tribute is currently evaluating their options with respect to the Nova Scotian tidal projects,” Canadian publicly-traded energy company Tribute said in a statement.

Tocardo’s shares were to be exchanged for for approximately 53 million common shares of Tribute through an equity swap of Tribute’s common shares.

At that time, the companies said their short-term objective for the re-organized corporation would be a first deployment of a Universal Foundation System (UFS) equipped with 5 tidal turbines in late 2018.

It remains unclear how the expiration of the term sheet and proposed share swap with Tocardo will affect the delivery timeline for the project.

Tocardo has been developing and deploying its tidal turbines in rivers and ocean environments for over a decade. The company currently has eight turbines deployed and operating in the Netherlands, and a contract for 5 turbines at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).