The owner of Suntech, currently one of the largest solar energy companies in the world, Shunfeng International, has acquired a majority stake in the US-based solar cell + module manufacturer Suniva, according to recent reports.
Shunfeng is now a 63% stakeholder in Suniva. Other minority stakeowners currently include: Goldman Sachs, NEA, Prelude Ventures, and Warburg Pincus.
Given that the Suntech brand is currently exposed to a cumulative duty of 54.02% (an anti-dumping tariff rate of 33.08% + a countervailing duty of 20.94%) when selling in the US, one can easily surmise the reason for the Suniva buy-in — Shunfeng will now have a better means of entering more strongly into the American market.
With regard to the details of the acquisition, Greentech Media has more:
According to a Hong Kong exchange document, “The Consideration is US$57,760,000, which is to be settled as follows: (a) the Company shall make the Cash Contribution of US$12,000,000 upon Completion; (b) for the remaining portion of the Consideration, the Company shall allot and issue 70,928,000 new Shares at the Issue Price to the Participating Stockholders.”
Suniva lost $15 million in 2014, less than the $44 million it lost in 2013, according to the same document. According to GTM Research’s PV Pulse and GTM solar analyst Jade Jones, Suniva is the No 2 US c-Si manufacturer in terms of total capacity. The investment by SFCE will allow Suniva to expand its capacity to over 400 megawatts.
It’s probably worth a reminder here that despite the events of recent history (a few years back, that is), Suntech is doing quite well right now — were it not for anti-dumping tariffs, the company/brand would most certainly be looking to gain a far greater market share in the US. With the recent majority-stake acquisition, though, that looks as though it may be unnecessary.
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