Wednesday, A-Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd. (APWR), a provider of distributed power generation systems in China, said it has signed a definitive contract to acquire 100% of Japan-based thin-film PV equipment maker Evatech Co., Ltd., for a total consideration of $49.9 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close by the end of November 2009.
Shenyang, China-based A-Power said it plans to fund 55% of the transaction from its internal financial resources, and the balance would come from foreign-investment grants from various levels of the local government.
Evatech currently has 85 employees and has branch offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Taiwan. The company's main manufacturing facility and its thin-film photovoltaic R&D center are located in Kyoto. Evatech sells to customers in about 10 countries outside Japan, 46 of which are in China, which is its largest overseas market. Due to certain financial difficulties with the operation of its business, Evatech is undergoing a rehabilitation process in the courts of Japan related to its corporate and debt restructuring, A-Power said.
Commenting on the acquisition, chairman and chief executive officer of A-Power, Jinxiang Lu, said, "In terms of solar, we plan to use EVATECH's low-cost and high-efficiency a-Si thin-film technology to produce PV curtain glass walls and take advantage of China's RMB 20 per watt subsidy for the building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) projects. As part of the plan, we expect to move EVATECH's manufacturing facility to Shenyang by the end of the year and start production and co- marketing of our PV products with a local construction group for Chinese customers sometime next year."
Further, the CEO added, the company expects Evatech to begin revenue contribution in late 2010.
Earlier, on August 12, A-Power signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire Evatech in an all-cash transaction valued at $50 million.
APWR is currently trading at $11.75 per share, up 4.72%, on the Nasdaq.
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