Q-Cells Accepts Takeover Bid From Hanwha, Will Cut Jobs

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The creditors of insolvent German solar company Q-Cells SE have approved, by a large majority, the sale of the business operations to South Korean conglomerate Hanwha. Insolvency administrator Henning Schorisch had signed the initial contract last Sunday, but Spanish company Isofoton was simultaneously vying to acquire Q-Cells.

As part of the newly finalizing restructuring process, Hanwha Group will take 1,250 of Q-Cells' 1,550 employees, as well as most parts of the total Q.CELLS Group, including the company's production site in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany; administrative site in Berlin; and production site in Malaysia.

The integration will mainly lead to job cuts in Q-Cells' administration division, as there is considerable overlap with the organizational structure of the Hanwha Group, the companies explain.

The purchase price is composed of the takeover of operational liabilities in the lower triple-digit millions as well as a cash component in the mid-double-digit millions, while the cash component depends on the volume of additional liabilities that will have to be taken over.

The purchase agreement is still subject to the approval of the relevant anti-trust authorities.

‘In the current macroeconomic and political environment, which is extremely difficult for Q.CELLS, it is a great success that we managed to maintain not only research and development, but also the production capacities at the Bitterfeld-Wolfen site,’ Schorisch notes.

Isofoton has released a statement noting that it ‘regretfully acknowledges’ that its bid was not selected.

‘We believe that we presented the best offer in the interest of the employees, the debt investors and the future of Q-Cells,’ says Angel Luis Serrano, president of Isofoton. ‘We must now accept the creditors' decision.’

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