SolarWorld’s Founder Asbeck Buys Back German Manufacturing and R&D Assets

A part of insolvent Solarworld AG has been sold and Solarworld Founder Frank Asbeck and Qatar Solar Technologies have taken over the plants in Freiberg and Arnstadt. The purchase is made by SolarWorld Industries. 

The commercial register suggests how complex the transaction must have been – in the past three weeks there are numerous new entries, changes and deletions. By the end of July, the insolvency allowance had been paid, which secured the salaries of the employees of the photovoltaic plant manufacturer. From August onwards, the insolvency administrator was liable for the salaries.

The sale of real estate, machinery and the so-called reserve capacity of the two plants in Freiberg and Arnstadt to Frank Asbeck and the co-investor from Qatar is intended to keep at least a part of the solar and module production in Germany. 40 employees at SolarWorld Industries are also switching to the administrative and sales office in Bonn. At the same time, the parallel transfer of personal transfer companies, whose support is now secured by Asbeck’s re-investment, will be a maximum of one year.

“I am delighted that after tough negotiations, we have succeeded in developing a future for SolarWorld production,” said Asbeck. “With the reboot, solar products are still being developed and produced at the highest level. SolarWorld remains the crystallization point of the European solar industry.”

Advisers from PRO LAW (Bonn) were: Bettina Plaßmann-Robertz (company and liability law, lead management) and Volker Lang (banking and capital market law).