Spinoff of Evergreen Solar seeks $736M for expansion; Evergreen Solar owns a third of EverQ shares
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Spinoff of Evergreen Solar seeks $736M for expansion
By Joseph Heaven BLOOMBERG NEWS
EverQ GmbH, the German solar-cell maker that is planning an initial public offering, needs more than 500 million euros ($736 million) to finance its expansion plan, Chief Executive Officer Ted Scheidegger said in an interview.
EverQ, whose shareholders include Renewable Energy Corp. and Q-Cells AG, will decide on the share sale’s arrangers in “the next couple of weeks,” Scheidegger, 50, said. It aims to complete the sale, followed by a Frankfurt listing, by the first quarter of 2009 and may top up the proceeds with debt, he said. EverQ was a former unit of Marlboro-based Evergreen Solar Inc.
EverQ, using manufacturing technology from Evergreen Solar, has production capacity of 100 megawatt peak, a measure of the optimal power output of solar cells produced in a year under standardized conditions. It is installing equipment this month in a third factory that will raise EverQ’s capacity to 180 megawatt peak. EverQ, based in the German town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, wants to expand its capacity to 600 megawatt peak by 2012.
“On the path to 600 megawatt peak we will be looking at well in excess of half a billion euros investment,” Scheidegger said at the company’s headquarters. “The next step is to raise the funds for the next 200 megawatt peak.”
Norway-based Renewable Energy, Q-Cells of Thalheim, Germany, and Evergreen Solar each own a third of EverQ. Renewable Energy, the largest maker of polysilicon for solar panels, supplies the purified silicon to be melted and drawn into ribbons. Q-Cells advises on the cells’ handling and treatment to maximize electrical efficiency.
“This capital increase will be new shares,” Scheidegger said. “Including what we can leverage off our balance sheet, our requirements will be several hundred million euros” for a fourth factory, new technology, sales and marketing staff as well as new corporate rebranding, he said.
Existing investors may also sell their holdings, he added.
Revenue will rise to about 200 million euros this year, 44 percent more than last year’s 139 million euros, Scheidegger said. Earnings before interest and taxes as a percentage of sales is in the “low double-digit” range, with net income as a percentage of sales a “high single-digit,” the executive added.
The third plant, called EverQ3, will begin large-scale production starting in March, the CEO said. Investments in the 80 megawatt peak factory cost 150 million euros, he said.
Evergreen Solar is the license holder of the manufacturing technique, called “string-ribbon,” which uses the surface tension of molten silicon between metal wires to draw ribbons for cells of the correct thickness. This technique is cheaper than conventional production because it uses less energy and less silicon than rival polycrystalline, according to EverQ. |
