EANS-Adhoc: Conergy AG
Conergy reaches agreement with MEMC regarding an
adjustment of the wafer supply contract
ad-hoc disclosure pursuant to section 15 of the WpHG transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Contracts
24.01.2010
Hamburg, 24.01.2010 - The Hamburg-based Conergy AG and the American MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. have reached an out-of-court settlement of the lawsuit concerning the validity of the wafer supply agreement which was pending since April 2009 and have agreed on a further adjustment of this contract. All clauses restricting competition have been cancelled. Furthermore, the contract has been adjusted with regard to volumes and price: going forward, the prices paid for wafers will be based on market prices and the volumes will be based on the requirements of Conergy´s solar plant in Frankfurt (Oder), provided Conergy purchases a certain minimum of its production capacity. This agreement will have a positive impact on the financial statements for 2009, as Conergy completely wrote off the prepayment made to MEMC as a precautionary measure when it filed the lawsuit in April 2009. As a result of the agreement, Conergy is able to partially reverse the write-off, which will have a positive impact of approximately EUR 34 million on the financial statements for 2009.
The agreement has an operational impact, leading to a significantly more flexible form of silicon wafer supply, which is more in line with the market. In future, Conergy will cover only half of its requirements for silicon wafers from MEMC. A minimum purchase value of less than a quarter of the current contract has been agreed for the remaining life of the contract, which amounts to approximately nine years. If Conergy does not purchase the annual amounts agreed, the life of contract will be extended accordingly. The remaining supply will be secured through third parties. The company is no longer obliged to limit purchases to wafers only, but is free to use silicon ingots, which was not permitted under non-competition clauses in the original wafer supply contract. The agreement will also enable Conergy to increase the capacity utilization of its wafer sawing facility in Frankfurt (Oder) and thus increase value added. Furthermore, both companies have agreed extensive cooperation with regard to the implementation of large solar projects beginning in 2010.
Following negotiations with MEMC in mid 2008, the original purchasing volume of over $ 8 billion agreed in late 2007 was halved. Talks were resumed at the end of 2008, with the goal of removing clauses from the contract, which were anti-competitive from Conergy´s point of view. After these negotiations failed, Conergy filed for the invalidity of the contract by declaratory judgment in New York City in April 2009, which has now been settled out of court.
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Christoph Marx
Head of Investor Relations
Tel.: +49(0)40 27142 1634
e-mail: c.marx@conergy.de
Branche: Energy
ISIN: DE0006040025
WKN: 604002
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