Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer supplier, yesterday said it had won shareholder approval to issue as many as US$50 million in convertible bonds, mainly to finance the expansion of a wafer slicing plant and to repay debt.
The chipmaker also planned to use part of the proceeds to buy raw materials from overseas suppliers, a company statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
It has hired Citigroup Global Markets Ltd and Deutsche Bank AG’s Hong Kong branch to handle the bond issue.
In addition, Green Energy shareholders also gave the go-ahead to a plan to create an extra 50 million common shares in the form of global depositary receipts, which would help the company raise NT$585 million (US$17.9 million) based on the stock’s closing price of NT$117 yesterday.
During the annual shareholders’ meeting, shareholders also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 per common share cash dividend and a 20 percent stock dividend based on last year’s earnings of NT$1.4 billion, or NT$13.91 a share.
Separately, the nation’s biggest solar cell maker, Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), said yesterday that its board had approved a plan to double its stake in polysilicon supplier AE Polysilicon Corp to 50.2 percent by subscribing for US$25 million in the company’s convertible bonds.
The move aimed “to increase the company’s presence in the solar industry and obtain a stable supply of raw materials to make solar cells,” company spokesman Norman Shen (沈楨林) said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Motech will subscribe for 3.74 million AE Polysilicon preference shares at US$6.68 per share. Motech currently holds a 25.38 percent stake in the Philadelphia-based polysilicon supplier.
The investment will be made via two Motech subsidiaries, Power Islands Ltd and Cheer View Investment Ltd, the company filing said.
The Tainan-based solar cell maker has inked a supply agreement with AE Polysilicon under which the firm will supply a total of 2,500 tonnes of polysilicon to Motech by 2011.
Green Energy shares fell 2.9 percent to NT$117, while Motech shares jumped 3.48 percent to close at NT$119 yesterday.
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