A deal that would see Conergy’s sales operations sold and split from its PV module and mounting systems manufacturing operations has been signed between US-based financial investor, Kawa Capital Management, Conergy and its preliminary insolvency administrator.
“Kawa is our preferred partner. We have been in intense negotiations about an investment in Conergy for months and have agreed on the future concept for Conergy already a long time ago,” said Dr. Philip Comberg, Conergy CEO.
Kawa Capital is buying the Conergy brand but not necessarily the product. The purchase agreement is expected to be executed in the second half of August, according to Conergy. Financial details have yet to be revealed.
In a separate statement, Conergy said that production would resume at both its facilities on Monday 22 July, 2013 after stopping in early July due to the start of insolvency proceedings.
Daniel Ades, Managing Partner of Kawa said: “The solar PV market is growing exponentially as costs approach grid parity, and Conergy is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this opportunity globally. We see a large potential in structuring and financing solar facilities across different jurisdictions, from residential to commercial rooftop to smaller scale utility projects, by packaging the predictable cash-flow streams into special financing vehicles.”
Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz of the law firm White & Case added: “We will work closely together with Kawa on finalizing the purchase agreement in the upcoming weeks.”
Although Undritz said in a statement that he was optimistic in finding a solution for Conergy’s module manufacturing operations, and that promising talks with potential investors have taken place regarding the mounting systems business, little else was actually relayed.
The split of Conergy’s sales and manufacturing operations points to Conergy under Kawa becoming a pure-play downstream project developer and a provider of EPC services, unshackled from reliance to a single manufacturer’s module product offering.
“Our expertise is highly complementary. In the last two years we have consistently focused Conergy on our strengths in international sales and services,” added Dr. Comberg. “At the same time, we have developed new financing and asset management services. With this setup, Conergy is ideally suited for the future challenges in the global solar growth markets. We want to sustainably implement this ‘downstream strategy’ in the international solar markets with a strong financial and strategic partner who is investing in the company for the long term. Kawa’s financing and structuring capabilities combined with Conergy’s global platform, track record and unparalleled expertise in downstream solar PV creates a unique and leading market player.”
