CEO of SolarWorld Frank Asbeck has now renewed his interest in buying certain parts of Bosch Solar. Asbeck, according to German newspaper "Wirtschaftswoche", has stated that he is now in talks with Bosch Solar. Bosch did not comment on the details of the ongoing discussion when approached by pv magazine. A spokeswomen confirmed though that Bosch is trying to sell off as much of its crystalline photovoltaic business activities as possible. "In order to save as many jobs as possible, our highest priority is to search for investors from the PV sector. Additionally we have been expanding our investor search beyond to other sectors as well," she said.
The solar moghul already mentioned SolarWorld's interest in taking over parts of Bosch's cell production unit in April this year. The one predicament would be that even though the production lines can be acquired at relatively low prices, Bosch Solar still has rather pricey silicon supply agreements that would also be transferred. These contracts amount to hundreds of millions of Euros according to the newspaper. Furthermore demands to repay the funding Bosch Solar received when developing its production facilities in Arnstadt in Thuringia could also come back to haunt the company.
Bosch Solar confirmed its exit from the crystalline solar sector in March this year, citing price erosion as having dampened business. The company has since been looking for a buyer for both its crystalline business and its 90% stake in Aleo Solar.
Translated and edited by Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger
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