Vancouver, British Columbia
Andina Development Corporation (CDNX: ADZ)
Further to the Company’s news release dated February 20, 2001, announcing the proposed acquisition by the Company of Carmanah Technologies Inc. (“Carmanah”), management is pleased to provide the following update.
An information circular prepared in connection with the transaction has now been drafted and, subject to regulatory approval, shall be mailed to the Company’s shareholders shortly. Monday, June 18, 2001 has been set as the date upon which an annual and special general meeting will be held and disinterested shareholder approval will be sought.
Carmanah, a private British Columbia company incorporated in 1998, is in the business of developing, manufacturing and selling solar-powered lighting products for marine navigation and hazard illumination, and for highway warning applications. Carmanah’s products currently serve the needs of port and roadway authorities, coast guards, marinas, recreational boaters, aquaculture farms and industrial users around the world. Existing clients include government authorities from North America, Europe, South America and Asia.
Carmanah’s proprietary products combine light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”) and solar power technologies, as well as energy storage technologies to store the energy collected during the day for use at night. This energy is stored in batteries or super-capacitors, then provided to the LEDs during the night to produce light. Solar powered LED lighting allows hazard lighting to be installed where it was previously impossible or prohibitively expensive. In relation to its products, Carmanah holds two U.S. patents, a European patent and has several patents pending.
The revenue growth of Carmanah has been very consistent, approximately doubling each year for the past 3 years. Audited revenues from Carmanah’s operations for the year ended December 31, 1998 totaled $706,453; for the year ended December 31, 1999 totaled $1,181,287; and for the year ended December 31, 2000 totaled $2,262,905.
For the first 4 months of the current fiscal year, Carmanah has achieved unaudited sales revenues in excess of $1,000,000. In the month of April alone, orders for over 1,300 lights (in excess of $260,000) were received, representing a record month for Carmanah. This data has been provided by Carmanah and has not been verified by Andina.
To-date, Carmanah has focused on selling its products primarily to the marine markets. The highway / roadway market is a significantly larger market into which the company has just recently entered. In January 2001, Carmanah was awarded a contract with Transport Canada, pursuant to which Carmanah will be developing national standards for LED railway signal crossing lights to replace incandescent lamps. By successfully securing this prestigious contract, Carmanah anticipates developing further business opportunities in the railway markets across Canada and the United States. Further, in the past few months Carmanah has also initiated contact with companies in the aviation industry to establish specifications and markets in this sector.
Management of Andina looks forward to providing further updates on the developments and operations of Carmanah.
Readers are cautioned that the acquisition of Carmanah by Andina has not been completed. Completion of the acquisition of Carmanah is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, acceptance of the Canadian Venture Exchange and disinterested shareholder approval. The transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There are risks associated with the transaction and there can be no assurance that it will close.
The Canadian Venture Exchange has neither approved no disapproved the contents of this press release.
For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Andina Development Corporation
1304-925 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6C 3L2
Telephone: (604) 684-2181