Following in the footprints of several of its biggest competitors, Korean solar PV manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS announced last week that it will look to de-list from NASDAQ after receiving a “going private” proposal.
In December of 2015, Trina Solar, one of the world’s largest solar PV manufacturers, announced that it had received a buyout offer from its chairman and chief executive, Mr Jifan Gao. A year and a half later the company completed its privatization — de-listing itself from the New York Stock Exchange in a deal worth approximately $1.1 billion.
Later that year, China-based PV manufacturer ReneSola and Shanghai-based solar cell and module manufacturer JA Solar both announced they were going private: ReneSolar divested its integrated solar manufacturing operations to its chairman and CEO Xianshou Li, while JA Solar announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement in which an investor consortium headed up by company founder, chairman, and CEO Baofang Jin, would take the company private in an all-cash transaction worth approximately $362.1 million.
A month after JA Solar completed its privatization, Canadian Solar, another of the world’s leading solar manufacturers, announced that it too had received a buyout offer from its Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Shawn (Xiaohua) Qu and that it would be investigating the offer.
Lest we think that the flood of solar privatizations was at an end, Korean solar PV manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS announced early this month that it had received a “preliminary non-binding proposal letter” to take the company private. It’s worth noting that Hanwha Q CELLS is set up a little differently, being the flagship company of the larger Hanwha Group, and the proposal has actually been submitted by Hanwha Solar Holdings, a subsidiary of Hanwha Chemical Corporation, an affiliate of the Hanwha Group.
The proposal put forward will take the company private in a transaction for all outstanding shares that are not already owned by Hanwha Solar Holdings for cash consideration of $9.00 per American Depository Share or $0.18 per ordinary share.
Hanwha Q CELLS’s Board will form a special committee to consider the proposal, made up of independent directors, but cautions shareholders and others that the proposal letter is just that, a proposal, and that it “has not made any decisions with respect thereto. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.”
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