Hanergy signs agreement to acquire Q.CELLS - Global PVQ SE ...

PRESS RELEASE
Hanergy signs agreement to acquire Q.CELLS’ thin-film
subsidiary Solibro
Solibro to benefit from network and investment, while allowing Hanergy access to its core technology
Beijing, CHINA, 5 June 2012 – Today, Hanergy Holding Group Limited and Q.CELLS signed an
agreement for Hanergy to acquire Q.CELLS’ thin-film subsidiary Solibro, at Hanergy’s headquarters
in Beijing.
After exploring various available thin-film investment opportunities, Hanergy has decided to invest in
the leading copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) co-evaporation technology that Solibro has
developed over the last 25 years. After the completion of the acquisition, Solibro will ramp up to a
yearly production of 100 MW in Thalheim to supply Hanergy’s European customers.
“This acquisition is not solely about consolidating our position on a global and competitive market.
It is also about creating synergies between our two organizations in order to provide our respective
customers with added value”, said Li Hejun, Chairman of Hanergy.
Jason Chow, Senior Vice President of Hanergy Industrial PV Group added: “Solibro has a proven
track record in thin-film CIGS technologies. Hanergy will provide the extensive network, the strong
production capacity and the long term R&D investment. We are confident that the acquisition will
enhance Solibro’s performance and capacity despite the industry’s current downturn.”
Q.CELLS evaluated several potential partners that would be able to fully develop the potential of
CIGS thin-film technology and make best use of its Thalheim-based facilities. Solibro’s technology
and manufacturing capacity, combined with Hanergy’s photovoltaic (PV) strategy, resulted in a fast
and successful conclusion of the transaction. Moreover, Hanergy will not shrink Solibro’s workforce
or change the company’s leadership; Solibro’s operations will remain unaffected, as will its aftersales
service provided to customers.
“Since the first meeting with the Hanergy management, an ideal strategic fit was obvious to us all,”
said Dr. Nedim Cen, CEO of Q.CELLS SE. “With Hanergy as a partner, the potential of Solibro’s
CIGS thin-film technology and existing production capacity can be fully realized. We are even more
pleased that Hanergy intends to retain our current workforce in Thalheim.”
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About Hanergy
Incorporated in 1994, Hanergy Holding Group Limited is headquartered in Beijing and has
subsidiaries in China, USA, UK, Italy, Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Singapore and Hong Kong.
As China’s largest privately owned provider of renewable energy, Hanergy has an installed
hydroelectric capacity of 6,000MW. Hanergy has also invested in solar thin-film R&D and
production bases in order to reach a 3,000MW capacity by the end of 2012. For more information
about Hanergy please visit www.hanergy.com.
About Q.CELLS
The Q.CELLS Group is one of the world’s leading photovoltaics companies and offers a wide range of
photovoltaic solutions, from solar cells and modules to solar power plants. Q.CELLS’s products are
developed and manufactured at its headquarters in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Germany) and marketed via
its global sales network. It also has a second production plant in Malaysia. More than 200 scientists
and engineers at Q.CELLS are working to swiftly advance solar technology and achieve Q.CELLS’
twin aims: driving down the costs of photovoltaics quickly and permanently, and making solar power
competitive. The close links between R&D and production enable Q.CELLS to rapidly translate
cutting-edge innovation into mass production - and underpin its ambition to be at the forefront of
photovoltaic technology. Q.CELLS SE is quoted in the Prime Standard on the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange (QCE; ISIN DE0005558662).
About Solibro
Based in Solar Valley Thalheim, Germany, Solibro GmbH produces thin-film solar modules using
CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) co-evaporation technology. Solibro solar modules, currently
positioned under the brand name Q.SMART, hold the world record for thin-film modules in serial
production since 2009 with efficiencies of up to 14.7 per cent (aperture area). Some 430
employees currently run two factories with a combined capacity of 135 MWp in Thalheim, Germany,
as well as an R&D centre in Uppsala, Sweden. In order to significantly expand capacity and thereby
reduce costs to industry leading levels, Q.CELLS had been looking for a suitable investor for Solibro
for some time. To date Solibro has produced and sold more than 140 Megawatt peak of Q.SMART
modules that have been installed in roof-top and utility scale projects for residential as well as
commercial and industrial customers.
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Press contact at Hanergy
Rohini Mukherji
Tel +86 (10) 5967 7625
EMAIL Rohini.mukherji@hkstrategies.com
Hanergy Brand Management Dept
Lv Jiali
Tel +86 10 83914567 ext 3101
EMAIL lvjiali@hanergy.com
Hanergy Industrial PV Group
Lei Lei
Tel +86 10 83914567 ext 6015
Email lleilei@hanergy.com
CONTACT Q.CELLS
Q-Cells SE
OT Thalheim, Sonnenallee 17-21
06766 Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany
FAX +49 (0)3494 6699.10000
WEB www.q-cells.de
Press contact preliminary insolvency administrator at Q.CELLS
Christoph Möller
TEL +49 (0)221-801087-87
EMAIL cm@moeller-pr.de
Q-Cells Corporate Communications
Ina von Spies, Alberta Rohardt
TEL +49 (0)3494 6699.10121
EMAIL presse@q-cells.com
Q-Cells Investor Relations
Stefan Lissner
TEL +49 (0)3494 6699.10101
EMAIL investor@q-cells.com
Executive Board: Dr Nedim Cen (CEO, CFO), Dr Andreas von Zitzewitz (COO, CSO)
Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Prof Dr h c Karlheinz Hornung
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