GCL Silicon Technology - bereits größter SI-Hersteller in China - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[meinolf67]

...soll in Kürze in New York IPOen.

[meinolf67]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 34.577.428 von meinolf67 am 24.07.08 13:12:20

Chinese solar power company files for US IPO
By Anette Jönsson | 22 July 2008

GCL Silicon is aiming to raise at least $750 million to fund an aggressive capacity ramp-up over the next few years.


GCL Silicon Technology Holdings has decided to brave the still jittery market for initial public offerings and go ahead with its plans for a US listing. Yesterday the Chinese solar power company filed for an IPO of up to $862.5 million.

GCL Silicon has started investor education in the US and, while it has yet to set a definitive timetable, sources say it could kick-off formal marketing and bookbuilding at the end of this week with the aim of pricing the deal in the first week of August. The stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sources familiar with the deal earlier said that the company needs to raise about $750 million towards its planned capital expenditure, which exactly matches the filed-for issue size when adding in a 15% greenshoe. Given the capex needs, the base offer is expected to be all new shares, but some of the pre-IPO shareholders, which include Deutsche Bank, Trustbridge Partners, Milestone China Opportunities Fund, Investec Bank and CDH Venture Partners, may sell some of their shares through the greenshoe. Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley are joint bookrunners for the offering.

Solar power companies listed in the US have been highly volatile this year. Share prices have been underpinned by high oil prices, but at the same time investors have remained sceptical as to whether the companies will be able to deliver on their plans amid a continuing – albeit decreasing – shortage of polysilicon (a raw material crucial for the production of solar cells) that is causing bottlenecks in the upstream part of the value chain. The market reaction towards companies that have posted strong earnings has been highly favourable though, with double-digit percentage gains not unusual in the wake of such “proof” of their continuous growth. As the availability of silicon improves and a lot of new capacity comes on board this year and next, the sector is, however, expected to become increasingly competitive.

Even so, sources say GCL Silicon is in a good position to capture a piece of the action, as its main business is to supply highly coveted polysilicon, which it makes at a production facility in China’s Jiangsu province. It also intends to move further down the supply chain by starting to manufacture wafers in the third quarter of 2009. Wafers are the next step in the value chain before the actual production of solar cells and panels.

GCL Silicon has a short track record, having begun operations in July 2006 and having produced its first batch of polysilicon as recently as September 2007. However, it is already the largest supplier of this raw material in China and among the top three or four players in the world together with companies like US-based REC, Germany-based Wacker Group and Korean newcomer DC Chemical. By March 2010, GCL Silicon plans to have a production capacity of 13,500 tonnes of polysilicon, and by 2011 it should reach 24,000 tonnes, up from 1,500 tonnes in March this year. It isn’t yet utilising this capacity in full though, with a production of 302 tonnes in the three months to March and 359 tonnes in the three months to June.

In also plans to build a wafer production facility with 1.9GW of capacity that should be completed by the end of 2010. It has recently begun selling wafers that are produced through tolling agreements with third-party manufacturers. The company will continue to rely on these suppliers until it has sufficient in-house wafer capacity to go it on its own. It currently supplies wafers through long-term contracts to players like JA Solar and Solarcell, and has long-term supply agreements for polysilicon with Trina Solar and Solarfun Power Holdings.

Among the key investment arguments, sources say, are: the high quality of GCL Silicon’s product; the fact that it is such a large deal; and a compelling valuation – although the latter won’t be finalised until after the company receives feedback from the investor education process. It will likely also be only the fourth IPO in the US by an Asian company this year after education play ATA; solar wafer manufacturer Renesola, which was already listed in London but completed a US listing and public offer in late January; and China Distance Education Holdings (CDEL), a provider of online test preparation courses, which is currently in the market with an IPO of up to $96 million that is scheduled to price next week.

GCL Silicon posted a loss of $2.9 million in 2007 on revenues of $40.8 million, but turned around in the three months to March when it reached a net profit of $34.7 million on revenues of $81.5 million.

[meinolf67]

timeline:

2008
May 18 No. 1 and 2 reactors of Phase II successfully produce first batch of polysilicon

Mid-May In collaboration with the efforts to provide earthquake disaster relief, GCL Silicon
donates RMB2 million to the charity foundations. GCL Silicon employees donate an
additional RMB349,000

May 1 ORACLE Enterprise Resource Planning system implemented

April 23 Xu Ming, vice governor of Jiangsu province and mayor of Xuzhou visits GCL Silicon to
preside over an on-site working session on the progress of GCL Silicon's polysilicon facilities

April 18 Phase III polysilicon facilities obtain approval from the National Development and
Reform Commission

March 5-7 GCL Silicon attends the 2008 3rd Asian Solar Conference. As one of the largest
polysilicon suppliers in attendance, GCL Silicon attracted a lot of interests from attendees

February 15 Cao Xinping, mayor of Xuzhou, leads senior officials from the Municipal Committee and the Municipal Government to visit GCL Silicon to hold and on-site meeting


2007
December 13 Wu Guihui, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission's
Energy Bureau visits GCL Silicon to study the development of the photovoltaic industry

December 12 GCL Silicon's polysilicon expansion facilities successfully pass Xuzhou Administration of Work Safety's safety inspection

September 19 First batch of polysilicon produced

September 8 Liang Baohua, governor of Jiangsu Province, visits GCL Silicon

August 22 Groundbreaking for Phase II facilities completed

May 24 Zhang Taoling, vice governor of Jiangsu Province, visits GCL Silicon for observation
and research

March 23 The Jiangsu Province Provincial Development and Reform Commission approves. GCL Silicon's proposal to increase investment in its Phase II polysilicon facilities, which are designed to produce 1,500 tons of electronic-grade polysilicon per year

[meinolf67]

Kunden:

[meinolf67]

aus dem F-1:



Overview



We supply polysilicon and wafers to companies operating in the solar industry. Polysilicon is the primary raw material for wafers used in the solar and electronics industries. We manufacture polysilicon at our production facility in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China and intend to commence wafer manufacturing in the third quarter of 2009. Our business was founded in March 2006 and upon completion and ramp up of our planned expansion to 13,500 MT per year by March 2010, we believe we will be one of the leading polysilicon producers in terms of production capacity. We currently plan to build 1.9 GW of wafer production capacity by the end of 2010. We commenced construction of our first polysilicon production facility, which produces solar grade polysilicon, in July 2006 and produced our first batch of polysilicon in September 2007. We made our first commercial shipment of polysilicon in October 2007. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, we produced 302 MT of polysilicon and in the three months ended June 30, 2008, we produced 359 MT of polysilicon. We began selling wafers produced for us through tolling arrangements with third party manufacturers in the second quarter of 2008 and expect wafer sales to contribute a significant majority of our revenues in the future.



We have an extremely limited operating history to serve as the basis for evaluating our business. You should consider the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by companies such as us in new and rapidly evolving markets such as the polysilicon and wafer markets. We ramped up our Phase I production facility to its designed annual capacity of 1,500 MT in March 2008. We commenced pilot production at our Phase II production facility with an designed annual capacity of 1,500 MT in June 2008. We commenced commercial production of our Phase II production facility in July 2008 and expect to achieve its fully ramped up capacity by December 2008. In December 2007, we commenced preparation for construction of our Phase III production facility, which is expected to have an aggregate annual production capacity of 10,500 MT. The production lines at our Phase III production facility are expected to commence commercial production in January 2009. We intend to fully ramp up our Phase III production facility by March 2010. As we began selling wafers produced for us through tolling arrangements with third parties in April 2008, none of the financial statements included in this prospectus reflect the results of such sales. In addition, we intend to commence in-house wafer manufacturing in 2009, which will have an impact on our financial results. We may not be able to achieve significant revenues or revenues growth in the future. In addition, our limited operating history provides a limited basis to assess the impact that critical accounting policies may have on our business and our financial performance.



We have entered into long-term wafer supply agreements with JA Solar, AIDE and Solarcell and long-term polysilicon supply agreements with Trina Solar and Solarfun. These contracts extend from 2008 through 2015 and require customers to make advance payments or provide standby letters of credit to us, have pre-set prices which decline substantially over the length of the contract and have pre-set volumes that increase substantially in the early years of the contract. We agreed to supply approximately 6.0 GW of wafers at a total contract price of $6.3 billion (RMB44.2 billion) to JA Solar, approximately 0.9 GW of wafers at a total contract price of $1.0 billion (RMB7.3 billion) to AIDE and approximately 0.7 GW at a total contract price of $0.9 billion (RMB6.3 billion) to Solarcell, respectively, over the terms of their respective supply contracts. We also agreed to supply

16,350 MT of polysilicon at a total contract price of $1.5 billion (RMB10.3 billion) to Trina Solar and 9,990 MT of polysilicon at a total contract price of $1.1 billion (RMB7.6 billion) to Solarfun, over the terms of their supply contracts. Prior to our entry into these long-term supply contracts, we sold all of our polysilicon on the spot market to major Chinese solar manufacturers. We intend to enter into additional long-term supply contracts with a goal of selling approximately 85% of our output under long-term supply agreements and the remaining non-contracted portion of our polysilicon and wafers on the spot market in the future. We will recognize the revenues from these and future long-term supply contracts on a weighted average basis. See “— Key Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations — Supply Contracts with Customers”.



We have operated and managed our business as a single segment since inception. Although we commenced sales of wafers in April 2008, we intend to continue to operate and manage our business as a single segment. We currently do not account for the results of our operations on a geographic or other basis.



Key Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations



The most significant factors that directly or indirectly affect and will affect our financial performance and results of operations are:


•

supply contracts with customers;


•

polysilicon production capacity and volume;


•

cost of producing polysilicon;


•

wafer production volume and cost;


•

market price of polysilicon and wafers; and


•

industry demand.



Supply Contracts with Customers



We began shipments of polysilicon and wafers under long-term supply contracts in April 2008 that require customers to make advance payments, have pre-set prices which decline over the length of the contract and have pre-set volumes that increase in the early years of the contract. Prior to these shipments we sold all of our polysilicon on the spot market. We expect to enter into additional long-term wafer supply agreements and expect wafer sales to contribute a significant majority of our revenues. We intend to enter into additional long-term supply contracts with a goal of selling approximately 85% of our output under long-term supply contracts and the remaining non-contracted portion of our products on the spot market. We will recognize the revenues from our current and future long-term supply contracts on a weighted average basis. The resulting per kilogram average selling price for polysilicon supply contracts and the per piece average selling price for wafer supply contracts are significantly lower than our historical spot market sales prices and lower than the initial set prices in the early years of our long-term contracts.



As a result of these long-term supply contracts, in the early years we will report substantial deferred tax benefits on the deferred income with respect to such contracts. The deferred tax benefits will be determined at enacted income tax rates in the periods in which the related deferred tax assets are expected to be utilized. These benefits will be expensed in the later years of the long-term supply contracts when the corresponding deferred income is recognized. Pursuant to preferential tax treatment in the PRC, we are exempt from income tax in 2008 and 2009 and will be exempt from 50% of the applicable income tax for each of 2010, 2011 and 2012. As a result, deferred tax benefits are expected to constitute a material portion of our reported net income in the next few years as the revenues attributed to these long-term supply contracts is significant and the temporary excess of the tax based contract revenues over the accounting based weighted average revenues is largest in the early years.



Polysilicon Production Capacity and Volume



We ramped up our Phase I production facility to its designed annual capacity of 1,500 MT in March 2008. We plan to double our annual manufacturing capacity from 1,500 MT to 3,000 MT by December 2008 when we....

[meinolf67]

50% nach-Steuer Umsatzrendite...!!!

[sleupendriewer]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 34.577.598 von meinolf67 am 24.07.08 13:26:12

hmm, die genannten verträge laufen auf ca. $100/kg poly hinaus - ob das "sustainable" ist ?

[meinolf67]

Chinese solar IPOs are having a hard time these days. But if the sector can squeeze in one more candidate, GCL Silicon is one worth considering.

The company, which makes polysilicon and wafers used in solar panels, filed recently to raise up to $863 million in a public offering. It plans to list on the NYSE under the ticker GCL.

Like so many recent IPOs, its offering follows a lot of last-minute reshuffling of shares and capital. But unlike others, not all proceeds are going to early investors.

GCL outlines the history of its corporate structure early in its prospectus, and if you love those logic questions on college exams, it's a must read: It's musical chairs featuring hard-nosed investors named Happy Genius, Sun Wave and Greatest Joy. The upshot is that GCL is now a holding company controlling its operating subsidiary, bearing the distinctly uncute name of JZPTD.

Like GT Solar(SOLR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which went public last week, GCL makes polysilicon, the raw material for solar panels that has been in short supply for years. At some point, the scales will tip suddenly in favor of supply over demand, and polysilicon companies will see prices plunge. But we haven't reached that point yet, so these companies are squeaking into U.S. stock exchanges.

Founded in 2006, GCL established a plant in China's Jiangsu province that year, beginning production last September. That plant brought in $40.8 million in revenue, not enough for a profit: It posted a loss of $2.9 million last year.

Things have improved quickly this year. In the first quarter, revenue more than doubled those of the four months of operation in 2007, reaching $81.5 million. The company swung to a profit of $34.7 million in the quarter, equal to a 42.6% net profit margin. Gross margins, meanwhile, rose to 77.3% from 73.1% in the previous three months.

GCL hasn't yet disclosed its financials for the most recent quarter -- that may come in an updated prospectus -- but it did say that it produced 359 metric tons of polysilicon in the quarter through June 30, up 19% from 302 metric tons in the previous quarter.

[meinolf67]

XUZHOU, Aug 12, 2008 (SinoCast via COMTEX) -- TDCX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co., Ltd. (JZPTD) under GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GCL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) has inked an agreement for the production of silicon ingots and silicon wafer.

The project, with a total investment of USD 1.1 billion, is expected to be able to produce 2,700-megawatt silicon ingots and silicon wafer, and generate CNY 30 billion of sales revenues a year after being put into production in 2010.

Chinese photovoltaic (PV) companies are unanimously extending reaches to upstream silicon wafer field, completing their industrial chains.

Previously, Canadian Solar Inc. (CSI and Nasdaq: CSIQ), a solar power system manufacturer that had been focusing on downstream modules, planned to build a large silicon wafer plant in Luoyang City of Henan Province. Solar power module maker Suntech Power announced earlier that it would acquire some equities of solar wafer manufacturer Shunda Holdings Co., Ltd. from private equity funds for USD 98.9 million. Asia's largest silicon wafer producer LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) started building a 16,000-ton silicon material project in 2007.

From www.cnstock.com, Page 1, Monday, August 11, 2008 [e-mail]
For full details for GCL click here

[meinolf67]

03.09.2008 14:11
Canadian Solar and GCL Silicon Announce Supply Contracts

TORONTO, Sept. 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (News) ("the Company", "CSI" or "we") and GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Inc. ("GCL Silicon") today reported that on August 21, 2008 they signed new long-term supply agreements in which GCL will supply 510 MT of high-purity poly-silicon feedstock in 2008 and 2009 and approximately 1.8 GW of wafers to CSI from 2010 to 2015.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of CSI, commented, "GCL Silicon is among the fastest-growing poly-silicon companies and an emerging leader in poly- silicon manufacturing. We have witnessed their ability to ramp up their operations first-hand and we are very pleased to have GCL Silicon as a strategic supply partner. These two contracts help us to further secure our supply chain with strong suppliers at favorable long-term contract prices. The competitive pricing for these recently signed contracts demonstrates that our high growth and balanced supply strategy coupled with our strong supplier relationships are paying off with lower materials costs going forward. We expect this trend to continue with an improved supply environment in 2009 and beyond.

Mr. Hunter Jiang, CEO of GCL Silicon commented, "CSI is one of the world leaders in the solar cell and module producing space, with a strong reputation for superior quality and product innovation. We are very pleased to have become a poly-silicon and wafer supplier to CSI. We view CSI as an important strategic partner and look forward to developing a close relationship with them and are committed to expanding our poly-silicon and wafer production capacity to meet the growing demands of customers such as CSI."

[meinolf67]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 34.962.726 von meinolf67 am 03.09.08 14:25:43

Canadian Solar, GCL ink long-term polysilicon, wafer supply deals
03 September 2008 | Materials: News


Canadian Solar (CSI) and GCL Silicon Technology have signed new long-term supply agreements, in which GCL will provide 510 metric tons of high-purity polysilicon feedstock over the next two years and approximately 1.8 GW of solar wafers from 2010-2015.

The wafer part of the deal marks the second major supply agreement inked by CSI in the past few months. The company also signed a contract with LDK Solar to provide 800 MW of wafers to CSI over the next 10 years, as part of an extension of the two firms' original deal.

In its most recent quarterly report, CSI said it should have 620 MW of module capacity and 400 MW of internal solar-cell manufacturing online by the end of this year. The vertically integrated PV company also said that it expects to have 180 MW of in-house ingot and wafer production capacity in place by early 2009.

GCL, which was founded in March 2006, has gone from shipping its first polysilicon (manufactured using a modified Siemens process) in October 2007, to achieving 100 metric tons of monthly output in March 2008. The Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China-based company, which already counts JA Solar, Solarfun and Trina Solar among its customers, has aggressive capacity ramp plans for both its poly and wafer operations. GCL has said it expects to reach 13,500 metric tons of annual poly capacity by March 2010 and 1.9 GW of mono- and multicrystalline wafer-making production in place by the end of 2010. The company will begin construction of its wafer facilities later this year.

"GCL Silicon is among the fastest-growing polysilicon companies and an emerging leader in polysilicon manufacturing," said Shawn Qu, CSI's chairman/CEO. "We have witnessed their ability to ramp up their operations first-hand, and we are very pleased to have GCL Silicon as a strategic supply partner. These two contracts help us to further secure our supply chain with strong suppliers at favorable long-term contract prices.

"The competitive pricing for these recently signed contracts demonstrates that our high growth and balanced supply strategy coupled with our strong supplier relationships are paying off with lower materials costs going forward. We expect this trend to continue with an improved supply environment in 2009 and beyond."

[meinolf67]

update 2.10.08:


PROSPECTUS SUMMARY



The following summary is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information and financial statements and notes thereto appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition to this summary, we urge you to read the entire prospectus carefully, especially the risks of investing in our ADSs discussed under “Risk Factors” before deciding whether to buy our ADSs.



Overview



We supply polysilicon and wafers to companies operating in the solar industry. Polysilicon is the primary raw material for wafers used in the solar and electronics industries. We manufacture polysilicon at our production complex in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China and intend to establish a second polysilicon production complex in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, China. We also intend to commence wafer manufacturing in Xuzhou in the third quarter of 2009. Our business was founded in March 2006 and we intend to ramp up our production capacity to 24,000 metric tonnes, or MT, per year by December 2010. We currently plan to build 2.7 gigawatts, or GW, of wafer production capacity by the end of 2011. We commenced construction of our first polysilicon production facility, our Xuzhou Phase I production facility, which produces solar grade polysilicon, in July 2006 and produced our first batch of polysilicon in September 2007. In the six months ended June 30, 2008, we produced 661 MT of polysilicon. For the months of July and August 2008, we produced 175 MT and 185 MT of polysilicon, respectively. We began selling wafers produced for us through tolling arrangements with third party manufacturers in the second quarter of 2008 and expect wafer sales to contribute a significant majority of our revenues after 2009.



We ramped up our Xuzhou Phase I production facility to its designed annual capacity of 1,500 MT in March 2008. We commenced commercial production of our Xuzhou Phase II production facility in July 2008 and expect it to achieve its fully ramped up capacity by December 2008. In December 2007, we commenced preparation for construction of our Xuzhou Phase III production facilities, which are expected to have an aggregate annual production capacity of 10,500 MT. We have already commenced equipment installation and expect our Xuzhou Phase III production facilities to commence commercial production in December 2008. We intend to fully ramp up our Xuzhou Phase III production facilities by February 2010. We have begun planning for our Xilinhot production facilities and expect to begin construction activities in October 2008. We expect to commence commercial production at our Xilinhot production facilities in December 2009 and to fully ramp it to its designed annual capacity of 10,500 MT by December 2010. We have implemented proven technologies in our polysilicon production facilities. We utilize a modified Siemens process to produce polysilicon and, starting from Xuzhou Phase II onwards, our production facilities are designed to produce both solar and electronic grade polysilicon.



We use industrial trichlorosilane, or TCS, to produce polysilicon. TCS is one of the main and most costly production inputs, and to date, we have relied on third party suppliers for most of our TCS requirements. To reduce our reliance on TCS from third party suppliers, we are increasingly incorporating TCS production into our production process. We integrated the hydrochlorination process for our Xuzhou Phase I production facility in February 2008 and in our Xuzhou Phase II production facility in September 2008. For the six months ended June 30, 2008 and the months ended July and August 2008, approximately 7%, 23% and 36% of the TCS we consumed was produced in-house, respectively. Our Taixing joint venture has constructed a TCS production facility with an initial annual capacity of 20,000 MT in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, China, which commenced commercial production in September 2008. We have already successfully used the TCS produced by our Taixing joint venture in our polysilicon production process. We intend to increase the Taixing joint venture annual TCS production capacity to up to 60,000 MT by 2010. Upon ramp up of this facility, we expect to substantially reduce our reliance on third parties for our TCS requirements.

[meinolf67]

Phase III läuft...:

GCL Silicon’s Xuzhou Phase III 10,500 MT Facility Successfully Produced the First Batch of High-Quality Polysilicon

On December 28, 2008, GCL Silicon’s Phase III 10,500 MT polysilicon manufacturing facility located in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China, successfully produced the first batch of high-quality polysilicon. This step marks GCL Silicon’s success in becoming one of the few polysilicon producers in the world with an annual capacity of over 10,000 MT.

Mr. Xue Zhong Chou, Vice-Chairman of GCL Group (parent company of GCL Silicon), Mr. Guo Min Zhu, Director of Jiangsu Zhongneng (subsidiary of GCL Silicon), and Mr. Hunter Jiang, CEO of GCL Silicon were present at the ceremony to mark the official start up of the Phase III polysilicon manufacturing facility.

[R-BgO]

GCL Silicon Participated in the Jiangsu Province Renewable Energy Industry Conference

On March 26, GCL Silicon participated in the Jiangsu Province Renewable Energy Industry Conference which was hosted by Mr. Heping Shi, Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province. Other participants included the Governor of Jiangsu Province, other vice governors of Jiangsu Province, vice mayors and mayors of all the cities in the province and other representatives from different government bodies. Representatives from twelve companies involved in the renewable energy industry were also invited to participate in the conference including representatives from GCL Silicon, Suntech and Trina.



During the conference, the provincial government issued twelve stimulus policies to support the development of the renewable energy industry within the Jiangsu Province. Jiangsu Province has always focused on the development of the renewable energy sector and has formed a three year development plan (2009 to 2011) for solar power, wind power and related technologies. The plan specified three cities (Xuzhou, Yangzhou and Lianyungang) as the three locations for polysilicon production. By 2011, Jiangsu Province should have acquired total polysilicon production capacity of 30,000 MT. The provincial government also plans to provide financial support in order to build out 260MW of solar power generating capabilities by 2011.

[R-BgO]

GCL-Poly buys GCL Solar for US$3.38 billion
23 June 2009 | By Mark Osborne | News > Materials

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited, a China based energy producer has acquired polysilicon and solar wafer producer GCL Solar Energy Technology Holdings Inc, also based in China for a reported US$3.38 billion. Both companies have similar corporate identities in part due to Zhu Gong Shan, Chairman of GCL-Poly, being a majority shareholder in both companies. GCL-Poly had previously planned to make further investments in the renewable energy sector as part of its overall plans for 2009.

“GCL-Poly is a leading renewable energy supplier dedicated to providing green and clean power,” commented Zhu Gong Shan. “The Group has extensive experience in constructing, operating and managing power plants. GCL Solar’s polysilicon production scale and cost advantages provides the Group with a strong driving force and a solid foundation in developing large-scale solar power plants in the future. Backed by strong government support, the future of the solar industry is promising and the Group is well-positioned to capitalize on these opportunities. I am very optimistic and have every confidence in the prospect of GCL-Poly.”

GCL Solar has claimed that its polysilicon production capacity is expected to reach 18,000MT by the end of 2009. Production plans also call for expansion to 21,000MT by the end of 2010.

“The PRC government has also been a strong advocate of solar power, and in line with this, local governments have launched various incentive programs to encourage the use of solar power. The Ministry of Finance recently introduced a program to subsidize and promote the application of roof-top solar systems. We expect the PRC government to initiate more incentives or subsidy programs to encourage the adoption of solar power going forward,” Zhu said.

GCL-Poly will make a cash payment of US$200 million as part of the acquisition as well as issue a US$350 million secured note. The majority of the investment will be funded by the issuance of 10,039,772,727 shares at HK2.2 per share (a 12% discount to share price).