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Transactions with Total and Total S.A.
9 Months Ended
Sep. 29, 2013
Transactions with Total [Abstract]  
Transactions With Total and Total S.A. [Text Block]
TRANSACTIONS WITH TOTAL AND TOTAL S.A.

On April 28, 2011, the Company and Total entered into a Tender Offer Agreement (the "Tender Offer Agreement"), pursuant to which, on May 3, 2011, Total commenced a cash tender offer to acquire up to 60% of the Company's outstanding shares of former class A common stock and up to 60% of the Company's outstanding shares of former class B common stock (the "Tender Offer") at a price of $23.25 per share for each class. The offer expired on June 14, 2011 and Total accepted for payment on June 21, 2011 a total of 34,756,682 shares of the Company's former class A common stock and 25,220,000 shares of the Company's former class B common stock, representing 60% of each class of its outstanding common stock as of June 13, 2011, for a total cost of approximately $1.4 billion.

On December 23, 2011, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with Total, under which it agreed to acquire 100% of the equity interest of Tenesol S.A. from Total for $165.4 million in cash. The Tenesol acquisition was consummated on January 31, 2012. Contemporaneously with the execution of the Tenesol Stock Purchase Agreement, the Company entered into a Private Placement Agreement with Total, under which Total agreed to purchase, and the Company agreed to issue and sell, 18.6 million shares of the Company's common stock for a purchase price of $8.80 per share, thereby increasing Total's ownership to approximately 66% of the Company's outstanding common stock as of that date. The sale was completed contemporaneously with the closing of the Tenesol acquisition.

Credit Support Agreement

In connection with the Tender Offer, the Company and Total S.A. entered into a Credit Support Agreement (the "Credit Support Agreement") under which Total S.A. agreed to enter into one or more guarantee agreements (each a "Guaranty") with banks providing letter of credit facilities to the Company in support of certain Company businesses and other permitted purposes. Total S.A. will guarantee the payment to the applicable issuing bank of the Company's obligation to reimburse a draw on a letter of credit and pay interest thereon in accordance with the letter of credit facility between such bank and the Company. The Credit Support Agreement became effective on June 28, 2011 (the "CSA Effective Date"). Under the Credit Support Agreement, at any time from the CSA Effective Date until the fifth anniversary of the CSA Effective Date, the Company may request that Total S.A. provide a Guaranty in support of the Company's payment obligations with respect to a letter of credit facility. Total S.A. is required to issue and enter into the Guaranty requested by the Company, subject to certain terms and conditions that may be waived by Total S.A., and subject to certain other conditions.

In consideration for the commitments of Total S.A., under the Credit Support Agreement, the Company is required to pay Total S.A. a guarantee fee for each letter of credit that is the subject of a Guaranty and was outstanding for all or part of the preceding calendar quarter. The Company is also required to reimburse Total S.A. for payments made under any Guaranty and certain expenses of Total S.A., plus interest on both. The Company incurred guaranty fees under the Credit Support Agreement of $2.7 million and $6.2 million in the three and nine months ended September 29, 2013, respectively, and $1.7 million and $5.2 million in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively.

The Company has agreed to undertake certain actions, including, but not limited to, ensuring that the payment obligations of the Company to Total S.A. rank at least equal in right of payment with all of the Company's other present and future indebtedness, other than certain permitted secured indebtedness. The Company has also agreed to refrain from taking certain actions, including refraining from making any equity distributions so long as it has any outstanding repayment obligation to Total S.A. resulting from a draw on a guaranteed letter of credit.

The Credit Support Agreement will terminate following the fifth anniversary of the CSA Effective Date, after the later of the payment in full of all obligations thereunder and the termination or expiration of each Guaranty provided thereunder.

Affiliation Agreement

In connection with the Tender Offer, the Company and Total entered into an Affiliation Agreement that governs the relationship between Total and the Company following the close of the Tender Offer (the "Affiliation Agreement"). Until the expiration of a standstill period (the "Standstill Period"), and subject to certain exceptions, Total, Total S.A., any of their respective affiliates and certain other related parties (the "Total Group") may not effect, seek, or enter into discussions with any third-party regarding any transaction that would result in the Total Group beneficially owning shares of the Company in excess of certain thresholds, or request the Company or the Company's independent directors, officers or employees, to amend or waive any of the standstill restrictions applicable to the Total Group. The standstill provisions of the Affiliation Agreement do not apply to securities issued in connection with the Liquidity Support Agreement described below.

The Affiliation Agreement imposes certain limitations on the Total Group's ability to seek to effect a tender offer or merger to acquire 100% of the outstanding voting power of the Company and imposes certain limitations on the Total Group's ability to transfer 40% or more of outstanding shares or voting power of the Company to a single person or group that is not a direct or indirect subsidiary of Total S.A. During the Standstill Period, no member of the Total Group may, among other things, solicit proxies or become a participant in an election contest relating to the election of directors to the Company's Board of Directors.

The Affiliation Agreement provides Total with the right to maintain its percentage ownership in connection with any new securities issued by the Company, and Total may also purchase shares on the open market or in private transactions with disinterested stockholders, subject in each case to certain restrictions.

In accordance with the terms of the Affiliation Agreement, on July 1, 2011, the Company's Board of Directors expanded the size of the Board of Directors to eleven members and elected six nominees from Total as directors, following which the Board of Directors was composed of the Chief Executive Officer of the Company (who also serves as the chairman of the Company's Board of Directors), four existing non-Total designated members of the Company's Board of Directors, and six directors designated by Total. Directors designated by Total also serve on certain committees of the Company's Board of Directors. On the first anniversary of the consummation of the Tender Offer on June 21, 2012, the size of the Company's Board of Directors was reduced to nine members and one non-Total designated director and one director designated by Total resigned from the Company's Board of Directors. If the Total Group's ownership percentage of Company common stock declines, the number of members of the Company's Board of Directors that Total is entitled to nominate to the Company's Board of Directors will be further reduced as set forth in the Affiliation Agreement.

The Affiliation Agreement also imposes certain restrictions with respect to the Company's and the Company's Board of Directors' ability to take certain actions, including specifying certain actions that require approval by the directors other than the directors appointed by Total and other actions that require stockholder approval by Total.

Affiliation Agreement Guaranty

Total S.A. has entered into a guaranty (the "Affiliation Agreement Guaranty") pursuant to which Total S.A. unconditionally guarantees the full and prompt payment of Total S.A.'s, Total's and each of Total S.A.'s direct and indirect subsidiaries' payment obligations under the Affiliation Agreement and the full and prompt performance of Total S.A.'s, Total's and each of Total S.A.'s direct and indirect subsidiaries' representations, warranties, covenants, duties, and agreements contained in the Affiliation Agreement.

Research & Collaboration Agreement

In connection with the Tender Offer, Total and the Company have entered into a Research & Collaboration Agreement (the "R&D Agreement") that establishes a framework under which the parties engage in long-term research and development collaboration ("R&D Collaboration"). The R&D Collaboration encompasses a number of different projects ("R&D Projects"), with a focus on advancing technology in the area of photovoltaics. The primary purpose of the R&D Collaboration is to: (i) maintain and expand the Company's technology position in the crystalline silicon domain; (ii) ensure the Company's industrial competitiveness; and (iii) guarantee a sustainable position for both the Company and Total to be best-in-class industry players.

The R&D Agreement enables a joint committee (the "R&D Strategic Committee") to identify, plan and manage the R&D Collaboration. Due to the impracticability of anticipating and establishing all of the legal and business terms that are and will be applicable to the R&D Collaboration or to each R&D Project, the R&D Agreement sets forth broad principles applicable to the parties' potential R&D Collaboration, and the R&D Collaboration Committee establishes the particular terms governing each particular R&D Project consistent with the terms set forth in the R&D Agreement. In the three and nine months ended September 29, 2013, Total contributed $0.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively, to projects under the R&D Agreement. The Company records research and development expense net of contributions under collaborative arrangements.

Registration Rights Agreement

In connection with the Tender Offer, Total and the Company entered into a customary registration rights agreement (the "Registration Rights Agreement") related to Total's ownership of Company shares. The Registration Rights Agreement provides Total with shelf registration rights, subject to certain customary exceptions, and up to two demand registration rights in any 12-month period, also subject to certain customary exceptions. Total also has certain rights to participate in any registrations of securities initiated by the Company. The Company will generally pay all costs and expenses incurred by the Company and Total in connection with any shelf or demand registration (other than selling expenses incurred by Total). The Company and Total have also agreed to certain indemnification rights. The Registration Rights Agreement terminates on the first date on which: (i) the shares held by Total constitute less than 5% of the then-outstanding common stock; (ii) all securities held by Total may be immediately resold pursuant to Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") during any 90-day period without any volume limitation or other restriction; or (iii) the Company ceases to be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act.

Stockholder Rights Plan

On April 28, 2011, prior to the execution of the Tender Offer Agreement, the Company entered into an amendment (the "Rights Agreement Amendment") to the Rights Agreement, dated August 12, 2008, by and between the Company and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as Rights Agent (the "Rights Agreement"), in order to, among other things, render the rights therein inapplicable to each of: (i) the approval, execution or delivery of the Tender Offer Agreement; (ii) the commencement or consummation of the Tender Offer; (iii) the consummation of the other transactions contemplated by the Tender Offer Agreement and the related agreements; and (iv) the public or other announcement of any of the foregoing.

On June 14, 2011, the Company entered into a second amendment to the Rights Agreement (the "Second Rights Agreement Amendment"), in order to, among other things, exempt Total, Total S.A. and certain of their affiliates and certain members of a group of which they may become members from the definition of "Acquiring Person" such that the rights issuable pursuant to the Rights Agreement will not become issuable in connection with the completion of the Tender Offer.

By-laws Amendment

On June 14, 2011, the Board of Directors approved the amendment of the Company's By-laws (the "By-laws"). The changes are required under the Affiliation Agreement. The amendments: (i) allow any member of the Total Group to call a meeting of stockholders for the sole purpose of considering and voting on a proposal to effect a Terra Merger (as defined in the Affiliation Agreement) or a Transferee Merger (as defined in the Affiliation Agreement); (ii) provide that the number of directors of the Board shall be determined from time to time by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the entire Board at any regular or special meeting; (iii) require, prior to the termination of the Affiliation Agreement, a majority of independent directors' approval to amend the By-laws so long as Total, together with Total S.A.'s subsidiaries collectively own at least 30% of the voting securities of the Company as well as require, prior to the termination of the Affiliation Agreement, Total's written consent during the Terra Stockholder Approval Period (as defined in the Affiliation Agreement) to amend the By-laws; and (iv) make certain other conforming changes to the By-laws. In addition, in November 2011, the By-laws were amended to remove restrictions prohibiting stockholder consents in writing.

Liquidity Support Agreement with Total S.A.

The Company is party to an agreement with a customer to construct the California Valley Solar Ranch, a solar park. Part of the debt financing necessary for the customer to pay for the construction of this solar park is being provided by the Federal Financing Bank in reliance on a guarantee of repayment provided by the Department of Energy (the "DOE") under a loan guarantee program. On February 28, 2012, the Company entered into a Liquidity Support Agreement with Total S.A. and the DOE, and a series of related agreements with Total S.A. and Total, under which Total S.A. has agreed to provide the Company, or cause to be provided, additional liquidity under certain circumstances to a maximum amount of $600.0 million ("Liquidity Support Facility"). Total S.A. is required to provide liquidity support to the Company under the facility, and the Company is required to accept such liquidity support from Total S.A., if either the Company's actual or projected unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, and unused borrowing capacity are reduced below $100.0 million, or the Company fails to satisfy any financial covenant under its indebtedness. In either such event, subject to a $600.0 million aggregate limit, Total S.A. is required to provide the Company with sufficient liquidity support to increase the amount of its unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and unused borrowing capacity to above $100.0 million, and to restore compliance with its financial covenants. Total S.A.'s current guarantee of the Company's July 2013 revolving credit facility with Credit Agricole, as further described below, reduces the capacity available under the Liquidity Support Facility by $250.0 million. The Liquidity Support Facility is available until the completion of the solar park, expected to be completed in the beginning of fiscal 2014, and, under certain conditions, up to December 31, 2016, at which time all outstanding guarantees will expire (except for the Total S.A. guarantee of the Credit Agricole facility which will expire on or about January 31, 2014) and all outstanding debt under the facility will become due. The use of the Liquidity Support Facility is not limited to direct obligations related to the solar park, and is available for general corporate purposes, but the Company has agreed to conduct its operations, and use any proceeds from such facility, in ways that minimize the likelihood of Total S.A. being required to provide further support. In connection with the Liquidity Support Agreement, the Company also entered into a Compensation and Funding Agreement with Total S.A., and a Private Placement Agreement and a Revolving Credit and Convertible Loan Agreement with Total, which implement the terms of the Liquidity Support Agreement and Compensation Funding Agreement.

Compensation and Funding Agreement

In connection with the Liquidity Support Agreement, on February 28, 2012, the Company entered into a Compensation and Funding Agreement (the "Compensation and Funding Agreement") with Total S.A., pursuant to which, among other things, the Company and Total S.A. established the parameters for the terms of the Liquidity Support Facility and any liquidity injections that may be required to be provided by Total S.A. to the Company pursuant to the Liquidity Support Agreement. The Company has agreed in the Compensation and Funding Agreement to use commercially reasonable efforts to assist Total S.A. in the performance of its obligations under the Liquidity Support Agreement and to conduct, and to act in good faith in conducting, its affairs in a manner such that Total S.A.'s obligation under the Liquidity Support Agreement to provide liquidity injections will not be triggered or, if triggered, will be minimized. The Company has also agreed to use any cash provided under the facility in such a way as to minimize the need for further liquidity support. The Compensation and Funding Agreement required the Company to issue, in consideration for Total S.A.'s agreement to provide the Liquidity Support Facility, a warrant ("the Upfront Warrant") to Total that is exercisable to purchase a number of shares of the Company's common stock equal to $75.0 million, divided by the volume-weighted average price for the Company's common stock for the 30 trading-day period ending on the trading day immediately preceding the date of the calculation. The Upfront Warrant will be exercisable at any time for seven years after its issuance, provided that, so long as at least $25.0 million of the Company's convertible debt remains outstanding, such exercise will not cause "any person," including Total S.A., to, directly or indirectly, including through one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries, become the "beneficial owner" (as such terms are defined in Rule 13d-3 and Rule 13d-5 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), of more than 74.99% of the voting power of the Company's common stock at such time, a circumstance which would trigger the repurchase or conversion of the Company's existing convertible debt. On February 28, 2012, the Company issued to Total the Upfront Warrant to purchase 9,531,677 shares of the Company's common stock with an exercise price of $7.8685, subject to adjustment for customary anti-dilution and other events.

Liquidity support may be provided by Total S.A. or through its affiliates in the form of revolving non-convertible debt, convertible debt, equity, guarantees of Company indebtedness or other forms of liquidity support agreed to by the Company, depending on the amount outstanding under the facility immediately prior to provision of the applicable support among other factors. The Company is required to compensate Total S.A. for any liquidity support actually provided, and the form and amount of such compensation depends on the form and amount of support provided, with the amount of compensation generally increasing with the amount of support provided over time. Such compensation is to be provided in a variety of forms including guarantee fees, warrants to purchase common stock, interest on amounts borrowed, and discounts on equity issued.

During the term of the Compensation and Funding Agreement, the Company will make certain cash payments to Total S.A. within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter for the term of the agreement as follows: (i) quarterly payment of a commitment fee in an amount equal to 0.25% of the unused portion of the $600.0 million Liquidity Support Facility as of the end of such quarter; and (ii) quarterly payment of a guarantee fee in an amount equal to 2.75% per annum of the average amount of the Company's indebtedness that is guaranteed by Total S.A. pursuant to any guaranty issued in accordance with the terms of the Compensation and Funding Agreement during such quarter. Any payment obligations of the Company to Total S.A. under the Compensation and Funding Agreement that are not paid when due shall accrue interest until paid in full at a rate equal to 6-month U.S. LIBOR as in effect from time to time plus 5.00% per annum.
  
On December 24, 2012, Total S.A. issued a guarantee for the Company's obligations under the September 2011 revolving credit facility with Credit Agricole (the "September 2011 revolving credit facility"). The issuance of the guarantee reduced the capacity available under the Liquidity Support Facility from $600.0 million to $325.0 million. The Company was required to pay Total S.A. an annual guarantee fee of 2.75% of the outstanding amount under the September 2012 revolving credit facility with Credit Agricole. The guarantee reduced related interest rates and removed certain financial and restrictive covenants under the facility. On July 3, 2013, the Company terminated the September 2011 revolving credit facility after establishing a new revolving credit facility with Credit Agricole (the "July 2013 revolving credit facility"). Total S.A. has issued a guarantee for the Company's obligations under the July 2013 revolving credit facility. The issuance of the guarantee, together with the termination of the similar $275.0 million guaranty of the September 2011 revolving credit facility, as described above, increased the capacity available under the Liquidity Support Facility by $25.0 million. The Company is required to pay Total S.A. an annual guarantee fee of 2.75% of the outstanding amount under the July 2013 revolving credit facility (see Note 9).

The Company incurred fees under the Compensation and Funding Agreement of $1.5 million and $4.0 million in the three and nine months ended September 29, 2013, respectively, and $1.4 million and $3.5 million in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively.

Master Agreement

On December 23, 2011, the Company also entered into a Master Agreement with Total, under which the Company and Total agreed to a framework of transactions related to the Tenesol acquisition and Private Placement Agreement. Additionally, Total has agreed to pursue several negotiations on additional agreements related to directly investing in the Company's R&D program over a multi-year period, its purchase of modules and its development of a multi-megawatt project using the Company's products. The Company and Total amended the Master Agreement on February 20, 2013 to clarify that the development of the multi-megawatt project using the Company's products shall mean development of up to 10 C-7 Tracker demonstration projects at a total cost to Total of not more than $2.5 million provided agreements for such projects are entered into before December 31, 2013.

0.75% Debentures Due 2018

On May 29, 2013, the Company issued $300.0 million in principal amount of its 0.75% senior convertible debentures due 2018 (the "0.75% debentures due 2018"). $200.0 million in aggregate principal amount of the 0.75% debentures due 2018 were acquired by Total. The 0.75% debentures due 2018 are convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at any time based on an initial conversion price equal to $24.95 per share, which provides Total the right to acquire up to 8,017,420 shares of the Company's common stock. The applicable conversion rate may adjust in certain circumstances, including a fundamental change, as described in the indenture governing the 0.75% debentures due 2018 (see Note 9).