Evergreen Solar to issue $60 million in shares

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Evergreen Solar Inc said it would issue $60 million in new common stock to build a new solar wafer plant in China and expand its Michigan production facility.

Evergreen, which makes string-ribbon silicon wafers, has seen its stock price tumble from more than $18 per share early last year to as low as $1 in March 2009 as financing for new solar projects dried up amid the credit crisis and shrinking government subsidies in Europe.

The company, based in Marlboro, Massachusetts, said it planned to build a 100 megawatt wafer manufacturing facility in Wuhan, China for $15 million to $20 million if the government there funds about two-thirds of the cost.

The money will also be used to cover general corporate costs and payments that may be required as part of its Sovello joint venture with German Q-Cells and Norway's Renewable Energy Corporation.

Last month, Evergreen posted a net loss of $64.3 million and said it would subcontract some of its wafer manufacturing to Jiawei Solar Co.

It expects to produce and sell between 20 to 25 MW of its string-ribbon wafer products in the second quarter, below its previous target of 30 MW.

Evergreen said it had granted the issue underwriter, Piper Jaffray & Co, an option to purchase up to $9 million of additional shares.

The company had filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 24 for a mixed shelf of up to $100 million.