Valoe Corporation Stock Exchange Release 19 February 2019 at 09.50 Finnish Time
VALOE STARTS ITS OWN IBC SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION IN LITHUANIA. THE COMPANY ACQUIRED SOLITEK’S SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION BUSINESS FROM GLOBAL BOD GROUP
Valoe Corporation (”Valoe”) has agreed to acquire from Lithuanian Global BOD Group SIA (”BOD”) the solar cell production business of JCS SoliTek R&D (“SoliTek”), a fully owned subsidiary of BOD. Valoe’s objective is to modify a plant, located in Vilnius, Lithuania, for production of Interdigitated Back Contact (”IBC”) cells. The first production cells are estimated to be manufactured in the second half of 2019 provided Valoe will be able to arrange financing of approx. EUR 5 million required to finish the project. The sum includes the remaining part of the purchase price of the business acquired from SoliTek i.e. approx. EUR 3.2 million.
According to Valoe’s view, the company’s solar cell plant will be one of the few production plants in the world where IBC or similar cells can be manufactured. Valoe estimates that the annual capacity at the company’s new solar cell plant will be approx. 60 MW at the first stage and the capacity can be doubled to approx. 120 MW with minor investments.
Already approx. 20 MW of the new plant’s annual production capacity has been sold for the next two years from the start of the production. Considering the current world market price, the value of the order with defined quality requirements is EUR 8 – 12 million depending on the cell type concerned and development of the world market prices. Valoe commences modification of the solar cell plant together with International Solar Energy Research Center Konstanz e.V. (”ISC Konstanz”) immediately. In the technology transfer agreement signed in May 2018 ISC Konstanz commits to certain quality requirements for the IBC cells which e.g. the above-mentioned order is subject to.
Part of the plant’s capacity will be used to produce cells for Valoe’s own Chrystal modules. Valoe estimates that the capacity of the company’s 60 IBC cell module will be approx. 320-340 Wpe and of a bifacial IBC module over 400 Wpe. The efficiency of Valoe’s current modules with monocrystalline cells is approx. 300 Wpe and the efficiency of the most common polycrystalline modules available on the Finnish market is approx. 260 – 280 Wpe.
Considering the above-mentioned order, the ongoing negotiations with other potential IBC cell buyers and Valoe’s own need for the cells as well as the estimated market price level of the IBC cells, Valoe trusts that the cell production plant will be profitable right from the start and the operative cashflow is positive.
Iikka Savisalo, Valoe’s CEO:” Our own solar cell production and especially production of the IBC cells is an achievement that we could only dream about couple of years ago. So far, this deal is the most important step for Valoe to meet its strategic goals. Now, Valoe has a chance to get to the same technology level with LG, Sunpower and Panasonic. We trust that we are able to compete in terms of both quality and price. Valoe’s back contact module, having a glass-glass structure and IBC cells that have longer economic lifetime, is expected to last more than 40 years. We are now one step closer to our goal to provide technology for generating solar energy with the lowest cost over its lifetime, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE).”
Before the completion of the deal, SoliTek’s solar cell production business will be demerged into a new Lithuanian company that Valoe’s new subsidiary to be established in Lithuania will acquire at the completion of the deal. SoliTek will transfer all the assets, knowhow and the key personnel related to its current solar cell production business to the new company to be established through the demerger.
The purchase price shall be EUR 3.5 million provided that the net debt and the net working capital of the new company to be established through the demerger are EUR 0 at the completion of the demerger.
Valoe has paid an initial purchase price of EUR 0.3 million. Further, Valoe has agreed to pay another tranche of the purchase price of EUR 0.5 million after SoliTek’s solar cell production business has been transferred into the new company to be established through the demerger, which is estimated to take place in April 2019. The remaining part of the purchase price shall be paid at the completion of the deal which is estimated to take place in May 2019. The deal is subject to normal conditions of a business acquisition.
Should Valoe fail to pay the remaining part of the purchase price or should the deal be cancelled for any other reason, Valoe and BOD are together committed to sell the modified cell production plant for which the assets concerned in the aforesaid transaction as well as the solar cell production line Valoe bought from Italian Megacell S.r.l.; under liquidation, in May 2018, and was then transferred to SoliTek’s premises in Lithuania are used. Out of the sale price, Valoe shall first receive such amount which corresponds to the amount of the initial payments Valoe has actually paid prior to the cancellation, added by the amount of new investments Valoe may have made for the new cell production line. The remaining part of the sale price shall be distributed among BOD and Valoe with shares of 3.5 (BOD)/2.5 (Valoe).
For about one year, Valoe has cooperated closely with SoliTek in relation to the development of own polycrystalline MWT cell.
In May 2018 Valoe disclosed that it has signed a development and technology transfer agreement with German ISC Konstanz. The objective of the cooperation is to develop, for Valoe’s modules, an IBC cell as well as to modify Valoe’s current module structure in a way where the features of an n-type IBC cell with better energy generating capabilities compared to a conventional p-type solar cell can be utilized in the best possible way.
Additionally, Valoe and ISC Konstanz have agreed on licensing the abovementioned cell types to Valoe and its future manufacturing partners.
In Mikkeli on 19 February 2019
Valoe Corporation
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
For more information:
CEO Iikka Savisalo, Valoe Corporation, p. 0405216082, email: iikka.savisalo@valoe.com
Distribution: Nasdaq Helsinki Oy; Main media; www.valoe.com
Valoe Corporation specializes in the clean energy, especially in photovoltaic solutions. Valoe provides automated production technology for solar modules based on the company’s own technology; production lines for modules; solar modules and special components for solar modules. Valoe's head office is located in Mikkeli, Finland.