The Management Board of aleo solar AG announced that some of the key shareholders, which together hold almost 40% of aleo’s share capital, have signed agreements with Robert Bosch GmbH to sell their shares to the latter.
The selling shareholders comprise a group of investors around Marius Eriksen, the company’s initiator and co-founder, as well as a company closely associated with HANNOVER Finanz, a financial investor who has invested in aleo solar since 2005. This transaction is subject to the formal proviso that antitrust authorities approve it and that the minimum acquisition threshold of possibly 75% (which shall be fixed in the voluntary public takeover offer) is reached.
The purchase price is €9.00 in cash per aleo share and thus 33% above the closing price of €6.78 per share on Friday, July 31, 2009, and 43% above the weighted average price of one aleo share in XETRA® trading during the three months preceding publication of this transaction (€6.31).
Bosch intends to submit a suitable voluntary public takeover offer to the shareholders of aleo solar AG with the aim of acquiring the latter’s remaining shares in connection with its acquisition of close to 40% of the shares of aleo solar AG.
The Management Board of aleo solar AG welcomes the proposed transaction and considers Bosch to be an excellent partner. Jakobus Smit, also co-founder and Chairman of aleo solar AG’s Management Board, emphasized, "We consistently positioned ourselves as a premium brand and built up a strong, own sales organization. Hence we are pleased that in Bosch’s view, we are ideally suited for supplementing its current activities in photovoltaics, which are essentially rooted in its acquisition of ersol Solar Energy AG in 2008. As part of this network, we will successfully continue to move along the growth trajectory we launched in recent years."
The co-founder and chairman of the Supervisory Board of aleo solar AG Marius Eriksen added, "This confirms the strategy we’ve been pursuing for years. Bosch’s decision to continue expanding the Prenzlau production site, as well as the Oldenburg location for both the German and international sales organization and marketing, under the present management constitutes a special recognition of the performance of all our employees and Management Board members. It also is excellent news for the cities of Prenzlau and Oldenburg."
Bosch simultaneously entered into an agreement with the shareholders of Johanna Solar Technology GmbH to acquire a majority stake in Johanna Solar Technology GmbH. aleo solar will no longer pursue its plan to purchase additional shares in Johanna Solar Technology GmbH if the voluntary public takeover offer and the acquisition agreements are executed. In aleo solar’s view, Bosch will be an excellent majority shareholder for Johanna Solar Technology GmbH.
aleo solar AG produces and sells solar modules using silicon cells. It also provides whole solar systems to the global photvoltaic market. The company was founded in 2001 and has been listed in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Prime Standard since 2006 (DE000A0JM634). The aleo solar Group currently employs 735 staff. It’s manufacturing facilities in Prenzlau (Germany) and two more production sites in Spain and China have an annual capacity of 250MW. The company generated revenue of €360.5 million in 2008.
