Hanwha SolarOne’s Acquisition Of Hanwha Q CELLS Now Completed

Hanwha SolarOne’s acquisition of Hanwha Q CELLS from Hanwha Solar Holdings (via an all-stock transaction) has now been completed, according to recent reports — with the transaction being finished on February 6, 2015.

At the “extraordinary” general meeting of Hanwha SolarOne shareholders on February 4, 2015, the transaction was approved by a majority.

As a result, Hanwha SolarOne has now issued ~3.7 billion of its ordinary shares (roughly the equivalent of 740.2 million American Depositary Shares of Hanwha SolarOne) to Hanwha Solar Holdings — thereby following through on the outline of the shareholder circular furnished to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (dated December 24, 2014).

Hanwha SolarOne has also reportedly now obtained the necessary approvals to alter its name to “Hanwha Q CELLS” — and also its NASDAQ trading symbol to “HQCL.” Both of these changes are effective as of February 9, 2015.

Also, Seoul, South Korea, will now be the location of the company’s headquarters.

The chairman and chief executive officer of Hanwha SolarOne, Mr Seongwoo Nam, commented on the closure of the acquisition thusly: “We believe the merger of Hanwha SolarOne and Hanwha Q CELLS will create a number of synergies and provide us with a much strengthened presence and competitive position in the global PV market. We plan to carefully manage the integration of the two companies, which have been benefitting in recent years from Hanwha’s strategic support and the larger Hanwha culture.”

The acquisition/merger certainly makes for an interesting development, but it’s hard to say immediately what effect it will have on the broader market.

Image Credit: Hanwha SolarOne