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Ecovest AG acquires Antec Solar
After months of failed»final« dates for the sale of insolvent CdTe module manufacturer Antec Solar GmbH, based in the Thuringian city of Arnstadt (see PI 2/2003, p. 10), an investor has actually emerged.
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PHOTON International |
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Sold: Ecovest AG is taking over Antec Solar's 10 MW CdTe module
factory. |
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In early April, Ökologik Ecovest AG, a venture capital company based in Frankfurt on Main, announced its plans to purchase the company. As a result of the takeover, Ecovest promises that»approximately 90
jobs« will be saved – which leads one to believe that all of the current employees will be able to hold onto their livelihoods. The employment office in Arnstadt has even begun to call for applications, since in addition to the previous Antec employees
– who are still registered as unemployed – »a small number of additional production personnel will be required."« But the employment office only mentions 70 positions that need to be filled.
Dirk Hentrich, from the Erfurt office of Kassel, Germany-based liquidator Fritz Westhelle, gave no details on the acquisition price, but admits that the price for Antec was lower than the
€3 million ($3.28 million) the company ultimately requested.
Antec's 10 MW CdTe module factory started production in 2001 with 1 MW, but significantly missed its 5 MW target for 2002, putting out only 1.5 MW (see PI 3/2002, p. 42). Having been closed at the end of 2002, it will be brought back into production as soon as possible. The name and exact structure of the new operating company, says Hentrich, have yet to be decided. In fact, the purchaser isn't Ecovest itself, but rather a company»out of Ecovest's
circle.«»There will be a restructuring to fit the acquisition into the company's portfolio."«
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