Solarworld

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Solarworld AG

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN DE000A1YCMM2
founding 1998
Seat Bonn , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Christoph Niering , insolvency administrator
Number of employees 3,073 (September 30, 2016, including temporary workers)
sales 803.066 million euros (2016)
Branch Photovoltaics
Website www.solarworld.de
Status: February 2019

Solarworld (proper spelling: SolarWorld) was a German industrial group in the solar sector. The company manufactured monocrystalline solar modules and was active in the international sales of monocrystalline solar power technology. The manufacturing process included the manufacture of solar cells and solar modules up to turnkey photovoltaic systems . The company was represented with locations in three countries. Production took place in Freiberg in Saxony and Arnstadt in Thuringia . Following the insolvency of Solarworld AG in May 2017, Solarworld Industries GmbH took over its German production facilities and sales companies in Europe, Asia and Africa in August 2017 . The SolarWorld Industries GmbH also submitted in March 2018, the opening of insolvency proceedings . Production was stopped in September 2018.

organization

Solarworld Industries was organized as a GmbH . Its business units were located in Arnstadt (production of solar cells) Freiberg (production of modules) and Bonn (administration and sales). The company's sales department was also represented in Singapore and South Africa .

History of Solarworld AG

Solarworld AG headquarters from 2005–2008, Bonn-Gronau
The later headquarters in the former Plittersdorf waterworks

Frank Asbeck was CEO of Solarworld AG and founded an engineering office for industrial plants in Bonn in 1988 . In 1995 the trade in photovoltaic modules, inverters , components as well as kits and system solutions was established. In 1998 the newly founded Solarworld took over all business activities of the engineering office in the field of solar energy. The company went public in November 1999. Solarworld, like the entire industry, grew very quickly thanks to the promotion of solar power through the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Solarworld also received direct subsidies through state subsidies, in Germany it was around 130 million euros from 2003 to 2011.

In 2000 wafer production started at the German production site in Freiberg . In 2001 the Solar Factory GmbH was founded in Freiberg; Fully automated module production began here in 2003.

With the inauguration of Deutsche Cell GmbH in 2002, the first in-house cell production was established in Freiberg . In 2004, Solarworld was awarded the prize in the Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises of the Oskar Patzelt Foundation .

In 2005 the sales branches in the USA and Europe, which are central to the expansion of international business, were expanded with the establishment of the sales companies Solarworld California Inc./USA and Solarworld Ibérica SL / Spain. At the US site in Hillsboro in Oregon, production was expanded in 2006 by taking over the solar silicon activities of the Shell Group. The purchase of another manufacturing facility for solar wafers and cells in 2007 allowed production capacity to rise again.

In 2010, a new, fully automated module factory was inaugurated at the Hillsboro site in the USA .

In the same year, a new solar wafer production facility went into operation in Freiberg and a research and development center was opened.

Since 2010, Solarworld has been involved in the Qatar Solar Technologies QSC joint venture based in the Emirate of Qatar . In January 2011, Solarparc AG, Bonn, was taken over by means of a squeeze-out .

In March 2011, the company received prospecting rights for lithium in the Ore Mountains . The raw material is mainly needed for the production of batteries for storing solar power.

In May 2011 the new fully automated module production facility Solar Factory III was put into operation in Freiberg.

Takeover offer for Opel

On November 19, 2008, the company announced that it would take over all four German Opel plants as well as the Adam Opel GmbH development center . A corresponding offer should be made to the American parent company, General Motors (GM).

The key requirement for submitting the offer was the complete separation of Opel from the GM group and a compensation payment of 40,000 euros per German job. According to the company, the total amount of compensation was around one billion euros. For the takeover, Solarworld could have provided Opel with cash in the amount of 250 million euros and bank lines of 750 million euros - subject to a federal guarantee. Solarworld wanted to develop Opel into “the first green European car company.” At that time, Opel employed almost 30,000 people at its headquarters in Rüsselsheim, Hesse, as well as in Bochum (North Rhine-Westphalia), Eisenach (Thuringia) and Kaiserslautern (Rhineland-Palatinate).

On the day of the announcement, Solarworld's share price plummeted by 13%. Isolated traders rated this announcement as a PR gag. Solarworld boss Frank Asbeck said his offer was meant seriously. The US automobile group General Motors, to which Adam Opel GmbH belonged at the time, declined the offer. As a company spokeswoman announced, Opel is not for sale.

The company's first crisis

After the company made high profits for a long time, it slipped very clearly into the red in the wake of the crisis in the entire solar industry in 2011. Sales, which have been rising rapidly for years, have also fallen sharply since then. In 2012 sales fell from EUR 1.05 billion to EUR 606 million. The operating loss increased and amounted to EUR 492.4 million at the end of the year. The available liquid funds fell from 553.5 million euros to 224 million euros. On January 24, 2013, the company admitted serious financial problems in an ad hoc announcement . The reasons for the increasing economic problems were an increasingly fierce price war and long-term purchase commitments for silicon, which became increasingly uneconomical due to falling silicon prices. In 2012, an unscheduled cut in EEG subsidies resulted in a significant drop in demand.

In the period that followed, the company began negotiations with the creditors, but initially remained unsuccessful. On April 17, 2013, Solarworld announced that in the individual financial statements of Solarworld AG in accordance with the German Commercial Code (HGB), equity had fallen to a negative value. In such a case, the board of directors must submit an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings after three weeks at the latest in accordance with Section 15a in conjunction with Section 19 (2) of the Insolvency Code , unless “the continuation of the company is largely probable under the circumstances”.

At the end of April 2013 it was announced that the company's long-term debt would be reduced by 60 percent through extensive debt relief . After a capital cut of 95 percent, 150 old shares were to be exchanged for one new share and the previous creditors were to become the main owners of the company as part of a subsequent capital increase. The shareholders were informed about the situation of the company at a first extraordinary general meeting in July 2013 and should decide on the proposed capital measures at a further extraordinary general meeting.

There were several lawsuits against these capital measures, so that implementation was delayed until January 2014. The stake held by the previous main shareholder, Frank Asbeck, would decrease from 28 percent to around one percent as a result of the capital measures. However, he wanted to increase his stake back to 21 percent. A new partner was Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) , a joint venture of Solarworld with the Qatar Development Bank and Qatar Solar (subsidiary of the Qatar Foundation ), which acquired around 29 percent of the shares for 35 million euros and gave an additional 50 million euros in credit.

In August 2013, bondholders approved the rescue plan for the company with a large majority. According to the audited Group report for 2012, which was only published in January 2014, the equity of the entire group as of December 31, 2012 was depleted.

Litigation with Hemlock

In the USA, a lawsuit by the silicon supplier Hemlock Semiconductor PTE Ltd against Deutsche Solar, a subsidiary of Solarworld, has been pending since 2013 . Deutsche Solar had signed a long-term supply contract with Hemlock. After the silicon price had fallen worldwide, Solarworld no longer fulfilled the contractual purchase obligation. Solarworld argues that the contract is null and void because it violates European antitrust law and, under US law, there is an exceptional situation in the case of dumping prices. On July 26, 2016, a single judge in Michigan upheld Hemlock's $ 793 million lawsuit in the first instance. Solarworld announced that it would appeal against it.

Restructuring

In April 2013, the company signaled interest in taking over Bosch Solar Energy , based in Arnstadt . The contract for this was signed on November 26, 2013.

The financial restructuring was completed on February 24, 2014.

In March 2014, Solarworld took over the Bosch production facilities in Arnstadt and received 130 million euros from Bosch.

At the end of the 2015 financial year, Solarworld AG recorded a liquidity surplus; Due to the contracts with the creditors, special repayments could be made. Compared to 2014, sales in 2015 increased from 573.4 to 763.5 million euros and thus exceeded the figures for the previous three years.

In 2016, the number of employees in the group rose to 3,800.

In the first quarter of 2017, Solarworld generated sales of 186 million euros and a loss before interest and taxes of 28 million euros.

Bankruptcies

On May 10, 2017, Solarworld AG announced that it no longer had a positive going concern forecast, that it was over-indebted and that it wanted to file for bankruptcy immediately ; the following day the application was submitted to the Bonn District Court . For the subsidiaries SolarWorld Industries Sachsen GmbH , SolarWorld Industries Thüringen GmbH , SolarWorld Industries Deutschland GmbH and SolarWorld Innovations GmbH , insolvency applications were also filed on May 12, 2017.

The insolvency administrator sold almost all of the property, plant and equipment, all inventories and all intangible assets of the insolvent companies as well as their shares in foreign Solarworld subsidiaries to SolarWorld Industries GmbH , which was only founded in July 2017 and whose managing director Frank Asbeck was. The purchase price mainly consisted of the assumption of liabilities from the insolvent companies. On August 11, 2017, the creditors' meeting approved the sale.

On March 27, 2018, SolarWorld Industries GmbH also filed for insolvency proceedings with the Bonn District Court. Christoph Niering has been appointed preliminary insolvency administrator. As a result of this bankruptcy, production was completely stopped. The production of solar modules in Freiberg ended on September 8, 2018. The production of solar cells in Arnstadt had already come to an end.

Consequences for the employees

150 employees at the group headquarters in Bonn were given permanent leave on August 1, 2017, another 65 employees remained for the liquidation of the company.

A total of 475 employees at the Freiberg and Arnstadt locations were taken over by SolarWorld Industries GmbH. 1,200 employees who were not taken on were initially to be transferred to a transfer company financed by the investors.

At the beginning of August 2018, 216 Solarworld employees switched to a transfer company, which expired at the end of January 2019. 180 former employees found new employment, the remaining 36 registered as unemployed in February 2019.

share

The shares were listed for the first time on November 8, 1999 on the open market of the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange and subsequently also on other German stock exchanges. After initial interest on the part of investors, the share experienced its first price decline in the years 2001–2003, but then rose to almost EUR 48 by November 2007. Due to the global financial crisis from 2007 and the crisis of the company itself, the price fell to a historic low of EUR 0.37 in the course of the following years and by December 23, 2013. This in turn led to speculation: on December 20, the number of shares traded on XETRA totaled almost 2 million.

In June 2003 Solarworld was included in the Prime Standard of the German stock exchange. At the same time, the share was included in the international ethical-ecological nature share index (NAI), from which it was removed with effect from February 9, 2016. From December 2004 to March 2013 the share was listed on the TecDax . In August 2006 Solarworld was included in the share index for renewable energies (RENIXX) and on June 4, 2007 in the ÖkoDAX . In addition, the share was listed in the Photovoltaik Global 30 Index from the start .

The free float was 71% until the capital cut in 2013. The main shareholder was Frank Asbeck with around 28%, his stake fell to below 20% by mid-January 2014. After 150 old shares were exchanged for new shares as part of the capital measures, the price of a share in January 2014 was around 30 euros. At the end of 2015, the proportion of shares in free float was 50.2%. On July 25, 2016, the share price hit a historic low of EUR 4.85 on XETRA . Membership in the Prime Standard ended in December 2017.

Key figures

After the group had made profits for a long time and had an equity ratio of more than 30%, a negative development began in 2011. In 2014, the group achieved a surplus for the first time since 2010, which is mainly due to debt relief as part of the financial structuring. As a result, equity rose sharply.

Selected key figures:

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Sales revenue (€ million) 698.8 900.3 1012.6 1304.7 1046.9 606.4 455.8 573.4 763.5 803.1
EBIT (€ million) 198.9 260.8 151.8 192.8 −233.2 −620.3 −188.7 62.4 [2] −4.2 −98.8
Profit (million €) 113.3 148.7 59.0 87.3 −299.3 −606.3 −228.3 464.2 [2] −33.3 −91.9
Equity (€ million) [1] 691.5 841.1 865.5 922.9 630.8 −11.4 −243.1 238.7 208.9 121.8
Balance sheet total (€ million) [1] 1704.5 2120.6 2217.1 2635.3 2277.8 1192.2 931.8 915.3 868.7 686.9
Equity ratio (%) [1] 40.6 39.7 39.0 35.0 27.7 −1.0 −26.1 26.1 24.0 17.7
Employees [1] 1486 1825 2000 2376 2701 2355 2073 2730 2932 3034
Research
and development expenses (€ million) 		10.8 13.0 12.0 19.2 27.2 49.1 26.5 29.0 23.3 26.0
[1] Status at the end of the year ; [2] Strong positive special effects from financial restructuring and takeover of the Arnstadt plant

Brand and advertising campaigns

In summer 2009, Solarworld started an advertising campaign with national soccer player Lukas Podolski . With the TV commercials and poster campaigns produced by director Sönke Wortmann , the group has significantly increased its profile in Germany. From 2010 to 2012 ran a campaign with Larry Hagman (known from the TV series Dallas ), who explains his switch from oil to solar energy in the commercials. In 2012, another Solarworld commercial was shown under the motto We are increasing your gross solar product . The actors are the actor Bill Mockridge and the actress and cabaret artist Margie Kinsky . In 2014, Solarworld relaunched its global brand presence under the motto “Real Value”, which was supplemented in 2015 by the international campaign “40 Years of Real Values”.

Competitive situation

Chinese manufacturers have been very successful in the world market, for example because of government subsidies and loans. In 2012, the USA imposed punitive tariffs for this reason, and the EU Commission investigated subsidies that distort competition. Solarworld - like some other companies - could not compete with the low prices offered by China.

In 2012, hackers are said to have successfully penetrated Solarworld USA in Hillsboro / Oregon shortly after a lawsuit against Chinese competitors for alleged dumping . The spies read the company's communications with its lawyers about the dumping lawsuit and obtained information about production processes and techniques.

Web links

Commons : SolarWorld  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b No investor for Freiberg Solarworldwerk. Finanznachrichten.de, accessed on February 13, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Solarworld AG: Group Interim Report Q3 2016. Accessed January 1, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Wirtschaftswoche: Solarworld cashes in. Retrieved January 31, 2013 .
  4. ↑ Solarworld AG , SME Competence Network, accessed on March 13, 2012.
  5. ↑ Bonn press blog - Federal Environment Minister Röttgen inaugurates new solar wafer production
  6. ↑ Solarworld relies on the research and development center in Freiberg  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Silicon-Saxony, September 27, 2010, accessed June 26, 2013.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.silicon-saxony.de  
  7. ↑ SolarWorld AG opens Germany's largest module production facility , Solarworld press release from May 20, 2011
  8. ↑ Solarworld AG: SolarWorld AG plans takeover offer for German Opel locations. November 19, 2008, accessed June 1, 2010 .
  9. ↑ a b Der Spiegel: Solar manufacturer Asbeck amazes with an offer for Opel plants. November 19, 2008, accessed June 1, 2010 .
  10. ↑ boerse.ard.de ( Memento from December 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Der Spiegel: General Motors lets Solarworld boss flash. November 19, 2008, accessed June 1, 2010 .
  12. ↑ Börse Go: Solarworld sales collapse , accessed on June 7, 2013.
  13. ^ Solarworld AG: ad hoc announcement. January 24, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013 .
  14. ↑ FAZ: Solarworld is fighting for its future. January 25, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013 .
  15. ^ The shareholder: Balance sheet explosive: Solarworld with big problems. Retrieved January 31, 2013 .
  16. ^ Deutsche Welle: Solarworld without equity. Archived from the original on April 18, 2013 ; accessed on January 31, 2013 .
  17. ↑ Annual General Meeting 2013
  18. ↑ Solar World AG: Ad-hoc release of January 13, 2014
  19. ↑ Solarworld demands sacrifices from owners and creditors , Bonner General-Anzeiger, April 30, 2013.
  20. ↑ Solarworld shareholders take the CEO to the mangle. In: reuters.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  21. ^ Report of the Berliner Zeitung
  22. ↑ Solarworld gets a yes n-tv.de, August 5, 2013.
  23. ↑ Solarworld AG: Group Report 2012 (PDF; 7.2 MB) Accessed on January 29, 2013 .
  24. ↑ Solarworld: The Sun King remains the loss emperor. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  25. ↑ debzwebz: Hemlock is suing JA Solar for $ 921 million in damages. April 20, 2016, accessed February 14, 2019 .
  26. ↑ US court orders Solarworld to pay 800 million in damages. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  27. ↑ US judge grants suit. Solarworld will appeal. In: dgap.de. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  28. ↑ n-tv NEWS: Solarworld wants Bosch patents. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Solarworld: Asbeck wants to take over Bosch's solar division. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  30. ↑ Solar World AG: Ad-hoc release of November 26, 2013
  31. ↑ solarworld.de
  32. ↑ Thüringer Allgemeine: Exit from the solar business costs Bosch 130 million euros , January 17, 2014.
  33. ↑ www.solarworld.de
  34. ↑ PDF
  35. ↑ [1]
  36. ↑ [2]
  37. ↑ Solarworld.de ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.solarworld.de
  38. ↑ Solarworld application for insolvency is received by Bonn court. Bonner General-Anzeiger , May 12, 2017.
  39. ↑ Ad-hoc announcement by Solarworld AG from May 12, 2017, 4:57 p.m.
  40. ↑ Solarworld broke again - hundreds of jobs endangered. In: mdr.de. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , March 28, 2018, accessed on March 28, 2018 .
  41. ↑ Solarworld again insolvent. In: sz-online.de. Sächsische Zeitung , March 28, 2018, accessed on March 28, 2018 .
  42. ↑ Solarworld: The last one turns off the light | Free press - Freiberg. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  43. ↑ Solar cell manufacturer: Solarworld stops production - opportunity for Freiberg plant. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  44. ↑ Insolvency - 150 Solarworld employees in Bonn have to go. July 27, 2017, accessed February 14, 2019 .
  45. ↑ Signed the purchase agreement for the assets of Solarworld AG. In: dgap.de. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .
  46. ↑ Helmut Bünder, Brigitte Koch: Frank Asbeck returns. In: FAZ.net . August 11, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2018 .
  47. ↑ 2013 shareholder structure on the website www.solarworld.de
  48. ↑ Publication in accordance with Section 26 (1) WpHG, ad hoc announcement by Deutsche Börse dated January 14, 2014.
  49. ↑ http://www.solarworld.de/fileadmin/sites/sw/ir/pdf/finanzberichte/konzernbericht_2015_de_web.pdf
  50. ↑ Course information , accessed on July 27, 2016
  51. ↑ Solarworld: No Prime Standard! , finanztrends.info, December 8, 2017.
  52. ↑ Group Report 2007. (PDF) Solarworld AG, March 10, 2008, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  53. ↑ Group report 2008. (PDF) Solarworld AG, March 16, 2009, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  54. ↑ Group Report 2009. (PDF) Solarworld AG, April 9, 2010, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  55. ↑ Group Report 2010. (PDF) Solarworld AG, March 11, 2011, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  56. ↑ Group Report 2011 (PDF; 9.0 MB) Solarworld AG, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  57. ↑ Group Report 2012. (PDF) Solarworld AG, January 23, 2014, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  58. ↑ Group Report 2013. (PDF) Solarworld AG, March 26, 2016, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  59. ↑ Group report 2014 (PDF; 4.6 MB) Solarworld AG, accessed on May 9, 2017 .
  60. ↑ Group Report 2015. (PDF) Solarworld AG, March 17, 2016, accessed on March 22, 2016 .
  61. ↑ Group Report 2016. (PDF) Solarworld AG, March 29, 2017, accessed on March 30, 2017 .
  62. ↑ http://www.solarworld.de/konzern/der-konzern/konzerngeschichte/unternehmensgeschichte/
  63. ^ Daniel Wetzel: Suntech: China's aggressive solar world market leader is broke. In: welt.de . March 20, 2013, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  64. ↑ Falling prices are driving Solarworld deep into the red , Focus Online from November 14, 2012
  65. ↑ Hacker allegations from the USA: Solarworld boss castigates espionage attacks from China , Spiegel Online from May 20, 2014