US based CIGS thin-film and flexible solar PV technology company Ascent Solar Technologies will shell out $5 million cash to acquire certain manufacturing assets of an unidentified European manufacturer of thin-film solar technology along with a global license of its intellectual property (IP) portfolio.
IP portfolio of the European manufacturer covers 35 patent families along with proprietary knowledge of thin-film PV development, including design, manufacturing systems, process methods and roll-to-roll techniques.
Under the terms of agreement, Ascent Solar will acquire the European manufacturer's equipment at its modern 15 MW plant that it says can produce 'polymer web up to one meter in width and one kilometer in length and would deliver a 300% increase in nameplate manufacturing capacity to ASTI'.
Trading on NASDAQ as ASTI, Ascent Solar will also acquire an option for a controlling interest in the said company, including its 40 MW thin-film CIGS facility that's also equipped to produce polymer web up to one meter in width and one kilometer in length. For this it will need to invest another $3 million in cash price.
With this acquisition, ASTI will service the European company's significant outstanding contracts using the acquired equipment, including for contract renewals. Management expects EBITDA-positive operations of the acquired assets as early as H2/2023.
Currently, Ascent operates a production facility of flexible thin-film solar panels with 5 MW nameplate capacity in Thornton, Colorado in the US. Its panels are used for space missions, multiple airborne vehicles, agrivoltaic installations along with industrial and commercial construction, and consumer goods.
Ascent terms it the company's 1st step of its strategic, turnaround plan. According to the management, this transaction will provide the company with proven manufacturing capacity to establish new revenue streams in the luxury goods and building integrated PV (BIPV), along with additional production capacity to handle new US and Asian sales.
Ascent President and CEO Jeffrey Max explained, "This transaction will also increase our manufacturing capacity by orders of magnitude through the highly-efficient 15 MW manufacturing equipment we intend to acquire. The option to acquire a controlling interest in a cutting-edge and industrial-scale 40 MW facility also provides us further flexibility in significantly increasing our manufacturing capabilities."