Arise Technologies, once a high-flying PV silicon and cell manufacturer and project developer, is on the brink of bankruptcy and struggling to stay intact long enough to make a go of its solar installation business.

In December, the Ontario company filed a notice of intention to propose an arrangement with its creditors, granting it a reprieve from any action they might take until the middle of this month. Last month, Jack Pinder was appointed chief restructuring officer.

Arise has taken the third tranche of a $1.47m bridge loan granted last autumn by Toronto-based hedge fund Radiant Investment Management — it has now taken three tranches of the loan, totalling more than $500,000, to be used to provide interim financing while it works with its secured creditors to develop a detailed plan regarding finalising a potential business combination agreement.

The board of directors, including the chief executive and chief financial officer, resigned after filing the notice of intention, according to The Record newspaper in Kitchener, Ontario.

Ian MacLellan, who founded Arise in 1996 and served as its chief technology officer, resigned in September. Calls to the company’s Waterloo offices were not returned.

Arise has endured a series of blows since August, when it announced a review of strategic options just before reporting a second-quarter net loss of $4.6m on sales of $9.1m. It has yet to report third-quarter earnings.

The systems business, consisting of rooftop and ground-mounted PV projects, was still growing in August and Pinder said he hoped to rescue this part of Arise.

In November, the company declared the insolvency of its German cell manufacturing subsidiary, Arise Technology Centre. Arise shares were delisted from the Toronto stock exchange on 23 December.

Benjamin Romano, Seattle

Published: Thursday, January 12 2012

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