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AstroPower vacates production facility as rumors of buyout grow
Amid speculation that all or part of AstroPower Inc. may be sold off, the PV cell and module manufacturer is vacating its new production facility in Newark, Delaware as a cost-saving
measure.
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AstroPower Inc |
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Empty: The electricity from a 30 kW facade and 310 kW rooftop system is the only production taking place in this 14,280 m² facility since AstroPower decided to stop paying rent to save
money. |
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The 14,280 m² building, once billed as having enough floor space to add 150 MW of production capacity, also served as the company's headquarters. Rent has been paid up through the end of September. According to Carl Young III, interim CEO of the cash-strapped cell and module manufacturer, the equipment and employees from its Executive Drive facility will be relocated to AstroPower's three other properties in Newark.
Based on earlier AstroPower statements, the company had at least one cell and one module line in the building. Young, the managing director of Bridge Associates LLC, a crisis management firm brought in to turn AstroPower's fortunes around after it was delisted from the Nasdaq high-tech stock market in July for failure to file financial reports, did not comment on whether AstroPower still owned the equipment or if the lines would be put back into operation. He would only say that the relocation was one of the
»critical steps« to »align the company with its current operations.«
Young did not comment on rumors that a number of companies have made offers to buy all or part of the company. According to one source, General Electric and silicon-technology firm Dow Corning Corp. have expressed interest, a move denied by both companies. But some kind of sale seems increasingly likely. On Sept. 17, AstroPower's board
»engaged« a consultant with experience in mergers and acquisitions. SSG Capital Advisors L.P., a Philadelphia-based investment banking firm, specializes in raising capital, sometimes through
»a sale of part or all of the company's business,« an AstroPower press release notes.
According to the same press release, AstroPower continues to have negative cash flow due to lower-than-normal sales resulting from
»its inability to purchase sufficient raw materials.« Interestingly, two days earlier on Sept. 15, the US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Technology (NIST) announced it was giving AstroPower a $5.5 million award to develop an industrial refining process to produce low-cost, high-purity silicon feedstock
»in virtually unlimited commercial quantities.« With its partners, Dow Corning and HEM furnace developer Crystal Systems Inc., AstroPower would need to raise an equal amount of funds for the three-year project. The company did not answer requests for information on how the award relates to AstroPower's earlier alliance with Norwegian silicon metal producer Elkem for coming up with a process for manufacturing low-cost, solar-grade silicon.
AstroPower, which manufactured 29.7 MW of cells in 2002, had been predicting a production of 45 MW in 2003. But George Roland, Young's predecessor as interim CEO, who took over with the resignation of company founder Allen Barnett, said in May that he didn't expect production to be much higher than last year. And now, with the revelation that AstroPower can't afford to buy the necessary feedstock, on top of a company layoff of 55 employees in August, actual production for 2003 is likely to be well below the 2002
level.
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