Ener1, Inc. announced the sale of $25 million of senior unsecured notes, together with shares of common stock and warrants, to certain investors, led by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P.
Along with funds from an existing grant from the U.S. Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Ener1 will use the proceeds from the sale primarily to continue building out production capacity in the U.S. and for working capital to support existing projects with customers in the grid energy storage and transportation sectors. In addition to its growing relationships with car makers THINK and Volvo, Ener1 has made substantial progress with U.S. and international customers in the heavy-duty transportation market, a key company focus for 2011 and beyond.
"Ener1 is strategically scaling its global manufacturing capabilities to meet the demand for our recently announced customer programs, including a $40-million utility supply agreement with the Russian Federal Grid Company," said Chairman and CEO Charles Gassenheimer. "We continue to see strong interest for our Li-ion battery systems solutions for customers across all three of our product verticals. The progress that was made in 2010 lays an excellent foundation for further growth and expansion. Access to the capital markets through transactions like this is critical to our continued success. We greatly appreciate the continued support from these investors."
The notes are payable in 10 equal quarterly installments, with a coupon of 8.25%. The first installment is due on July 1, 2011. Payments on the notes are structured in the same way as they were for the notes sold in September 2010. Both these notes and the earlier ones provide Ener1 the option of paying principal and interest entirely in cash, in stock (subject to satisfying certain conditions), or a combination of cash and stock. Ener1 has elected to make the first quarterly installment payment on the September notes in cash.
