Eden Prairie company to buy wind farm projects

Oct 16, 2007 (Pioneer Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- WNEA | charts | news | PowerRating -- Wind Energy America Inc. is sensing the wind is blowing in its favor.

The Eden Prairie company, formerly known as Dotronix Inc., said today that it has entered into a letter of intent to buy the assets of wind farm developer Boreal Energy Inc. of Vadnais Heights.

Boreal Energy has a pipeline of projects in the works for the Great Plains, Midwest and Canada. Those projects include about 60 megawatts in various phases of design or development and an additional 1,200 megawatts of energy projects in the planning stage, the company said in a statement.

Wind Energy America intends to purchase substantially all of Boreal's assets in a tax-free exchange for publicly traded Wind Energy America's common stock. The terms provide for Wind Energy to exchange up to 30 million shares of its stock for Boreal's assets, depending upon their value determined through a due diligence process now underway, the company said.

Wind Energy in August bought a share in two other Minnesota wind energy farms for $2.3 million in cash, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company's goal, said CEO Robert Knutson, is "to build a profitable and diversified portfolio of wind power assets."

Wind Energy America originally was founded in 1980 as Dotronix Inc. and for nearly 24 years it designed, manufactured and marketed cathode ray tubes and digital signs. Losses in recent years caused the company to discontinue operations during 2005, the company said in a SEC document.

In 2006, the company decided to enter the wind energy business as its primary business, and in March of this year, it changed its name to Wind Energy America.

Leslie Brooks Suzukamo covers telecommunications, technology and energy. He can be reached at lsuzukamo@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5475.

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