A Canadian exploration group is set to take over Irish alternative energy player Finavera Renewables, in a deal valued at €35 million.
Vancouver-based Cascade Minerals and Finavera have agreed a reverse takeover that will see the Canadian company issuing its shares to Finavera shareholders.
There will be two transactions involving close to 122 million Cascade shares with a total value of 49.75 million Canadian dollars (€35 million).
The biggest shareholders in Finavera are founding investors Jason Bak, Damien Reynolds, Dr Stephen McCarron and Tom Davitt.
The deal's completion is subject to shareholder approval and the regulations of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Finavera is involved in gas exploration and wind farms in the Republic, but has been building up a presence in Canada over the last two years.
The company is building 12 wind farms on a 52,000 hectare site in the Peace River region in British Columbia, a western province of Canada.
Following the deal, Cascade will raise funds on the Toronto Stock Exchange to fund the development of the wind farms.
It is also working on a wave energy project in Portugal with Aqua Energy Group Ltd.
Following the deal, Cascade's existing board will resign in favour of new directors nominated by Finavera.
Mr Bak will become chief executive and president of Cascade following the deal. Mr Bak has been involved in the Canadian exploration industry in the past and was educated in British Columbia.
Another Finavera nominee, Thomas Allen, will take over as chairman.
He is a senior partner in Canadian law firm Ogilvy Renault, chairs investment firm Westwind Capital and is on the board of a number of exploration companies.
Former Shell WindEnergy director Bertan Atalay, who joined Finavera in February from another Canadian company, Northland Power Inc, will become the chief operations officer.
Mr Davitt, Mr Reynolds, Dr McCarron, Alla Weinstein and Steve Flechner will also join the board once the deal is completed.
Mr Reynolds heads Longview Investments, and has been involved in exploration and energy projects for over 20 years.
Cascade is classed as a "junior" exploration company in Canada and already has a listing on the Toronto exchange.
