Taiwanese solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美晶) yesterday said it was forming a strategic alliance with solar cell maker, Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽光電), via a share swap in a move to enhance their cost competitiveness.
The strategic partnership follows a growing trend of vertical integration in the solar industry. For instance, Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), the nation’s biggest solar cell manufacturer, is expanding into wafer manufacturing and solar panel installation.
“The cooperation is a form of vertical integration, which will strengthen our competitiveness and allow us to respond faster to market demand,” Sino-American chairman Lu Ming-kuang (盧明光) said.
Based on the deal, each Sino-American share will be exchanged for 1.2669 Solartech shares, a joint statement said.
Sino-American would obtain a 10 percent stake in Solartech by subscribing to new shares issued by the Taoyuan-based solar cell maker, while Solartech would have a 5 percent stake of Sino-American, the statement said. The deal is set to close on April 15.
“We believe the strategic alliance will be the first step toward our goal of bringing down the cost of solar cell manufacturing, making it cheaper than electricity generated by traditional means,” Solartech chairman Liu Kong-hsin (劉康信) told a media briefing.
Solartech is the biggest customer of Sino-American, accounting for 15 to 20 percent of the latter’s revenues.
In December, the two companies formed a NT$2 billion (US$67.6 million) joint venture, Sino-Solar (中陽光伏), to make solar wafers and solar cells.
Cher Wang (王雪紅), the richest person in Taiwan based on Forbes’ latest report and chairperson of leading global smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電), holds a 10 percent capital share of Sino-Solar via a venture company.
Wang told reporters she would send a representative to serve as a supervisor on Sino-American’s board, but that she would not subscribe to shares in Sino-American and Solartech.
Asked about potential impact from the magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan yesterday, Sino-American said as of press time, its Japanese customers — including Sharp Electronics Corp and Sanyo Corp had not been affected by the quake.
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