The largest polysilicon producer, GCL-Poly Energy Holdings and a group of other investors are to take a majority shareholding in bankrupt PV module manufacturer, Shanghai Chaori Solar. The company also announced plans to dispose of its wafer production business, which has recently been expanded to a nameplate capacity of 13GW.
GCL-Poly said in a financial statement that a restructuring plan had been approved by the creditors of Chaori Solar on October 23, 2014 and the Shanghai Municipal First Intermediate People’s Court on October 28, 2014.
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The deal involves Jiangsu Golden Concord the holding company of GCL-Poly and eight other investors subscribing to 1,680,000,000 shares in Chaori Solar for approximately US$238 million.
Jiangsu Golden Concord would own a 30% interest in the module manufacturer and combined with other investors take a 66% majority share holding. GCL-Poly had been a supplier to Chaori Solar.
Chaori Solar was the first company to default on bonds in China and had been one of many zombie companies in China. The company went bankrupt as it attempted to restart production to catch the boom in the Chinese market.
Wafer manufacturing disposal
GCL-Poly also announced that it planned to dispose of its wafer manufacturing operations before the end of 2014. The company is also the world’s largest wafer producer with a nameplate capacity of 13GW.
The company said Zhu Yufeng, an executive director of the company and trustee of Jiangsu Golden Concord could potentially be the buyer along with unidentified investors.
Financial terms and the reason behind the potential disposal were not disclosed.