US-based asset management firm, Kawa Capital Management, has acquired four more of PV system manufacturer and developer Conergy’s sales units.
Conergy’s sales and service units in the UK, Germany, Italy and Australia will be acquired by Kawa as of 1 October, securing 350 jobs out of 600 – 140 in Germany and 210 internationally.
However, the company’s sales units in Spain, France, Greece, India and the Czech Republic were not part of the latest deal. A spokeswoman for Conergy said the 110 staff it has in these countries would lose their jobs.
Conergy filed for insolvency in July, and sold four of its sales units to Kawa Capital Management at the beginning of August, in Singapore, the US, Canada and Thailand.
Conergy is also still in talks with potential investors over its production subsidiaries, Mounting Systems and Conergy SolarModule, which employ 500 staff.
Discussions on the future of these operations were scheduled for today, with an agreement is expected within the next week.
Kawa partner, Andrew de Pass, said Kawa was “breaking new ground” with the transaction by keeping “the necessary know-how in-house for the engineering, planning, construction and the management of solar power plants on a truly global basis”.
He added: “Photovoltaic is a very interesting asset class, however, it requires profound and complex know how. With our Conergy experts we can guarantee our customers secure investments – in the right projects, in the right quality of both, systems and services, at the right conditions and attractive return-on-investment. The strategic acquisitions of Conergy are therefore a milestone for our asset management business.”
Conergy CEO, Philip Comberg, said “With Kawa as our new owner the last missing piece of the jigsaw of our strategy is now falling into place. This opens up great chances and interesting future potential for Conergy.”
Robert Goss, managing director, Conergy UK & Ireland, added: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have Kawa as our new owner. This is a vote of confidence not only in our service and technical capability, but a vote of confidence in British solar, the sixth biggest market worldwide in 2013. Our customers and partners have been very patient and we’re grateful for their support. We look forward to continuing to deliver the bankable technology and build expertise that they have come to rely on.”
Conergy UK Ltd will be exhibiting at this year’s Solar Energy UK at stand H10.
