By Shanghai, China and Thalheim, Germany | Dec. 8, 2014 — Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd. (“SolarOne”) (NASDAQ: HSOL), Hanwha Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (“HSH”) and Hanwha Q CELLS Investment Co., Ltd. (“Q CELLS”) announced today a definitive share purchase agreement to create a new global leader in solar power.
The combined business will be the largest manufacturer of solar cells with capacity of 3.28 gigawatts and will have a broader international footprint covering the largest and fastest-growing solar markets in the world.
Under the terms of the agreement, SolarOne will acquire 100% of the outstanding share capital of Q CELLS from its sole shareholder, HSH, in an all-stock transaction with an implied enterprise value of the combined company at approximately $2.0 billion based on the closing price of SolarOne’s American depositary shares (each of which represents five ordinary shares of SolarOne) as quoted by NASDAQ on December 5, 2014 (the last trading day prior to this announcement).
The transaction was approved by the board of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Mr. Seongwoo Nam, chief executive officer of SolarOne, said, “The combination of SolarOne and Q CELLS creates a formidable global leader that is well positioned for long-term growth. Q CELLS brings industry-leading technology and R&D that can be leveraged across the combined product portfolio, and downstream expertise in development, EPC and project financing. At the same time, we plan to leverage SolarOne’s cost-efficient module manufacturing base together with Q CELLS’ industry-leading highly efficient and fully automated cell manufacturing knowhow to further improve the combined company’s cost competitiveness. Our combined scale and optimized global footprint will strengthen our strategic and financial position and should enable us to accelerate growth in the most important solar markets and increase shareholder value.”
Mr. Charles Kim, chief executive officer of Q CELLS, said, “Q CELLS’ commitment to quality, technology, and innovation has enabled us to become one of the most respected solar companies with a world-renowned product reputation and downstream expertise. The merger with SolarOne creates a truly global platform that will provide us with a platform to achieve greater economies of scale and facilitate expansion into important solar markets including China. Together with SolarOne, we look forward to delivering superior solar solutions to our customers and growing our global leadership position.”
SolarOne is currently one of the world’s largest solar wafer, cell and module makers with operations and manufacturing centered in China and more than 7,500 employees across China, Germany and the United States. The business has a cell and module production capacity of 1.75 and 2.07 gigawatts, respectively, and serves customers in Japan, China, the United States, Korea, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Germany.
Acquired by Hanwha Group in 2012, Q CELLS is the largest supplier of photovoltaic product solutions in Europe (based on global shipments in 2014 year-to-date), and has almost 1,800 employees in Germany and Malaysia. The Q CELLS brand is widely recognized in the industry for its high quality solar cells and modules, system solutions and complete power plants, with a cell and module manufacturing capacity of 1.53 gigawatts and 130 megawatts, respectively. Q CELLS serves customers through its international sales network covering Germany, Malaysia, Japan, the United States, Korea, France, Chile and Australia. Q CELLS generated approximately $416.1 million in revenue based on unaudited IFRS financial information for the six months ended June 30, 2014.
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