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ChemChina unit sells Europe’s top solar-panel maker to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries for US$771 million

  • The acquisition will give Reliance a ready global platform and an opportunity to grow in key green energy markets worldwide
  • Reliance will also support REC’s expansion plans in the US, France and Singapore

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Norwegian firm REC Solar Holdings installed nearly 10,000 solar panels on the rooftop of German carmaker Audi’s A1 model assembly lines in Brussels, Belgium, in 2013. Photo: Agence France-Presse
SCMP Reporter
China’s state-controlled chemical giant is selling its entire stake in Europe’s biggest solar-panel producer to a company controlled by Asia’s richest billionaire, Mukesh Ambani, as the global race to generate clean energy heats up amid efforts to contain carbon emissions.
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China National Bluestar Group, a unit of China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina), has agreed to sell Oslo-based REC Solar Holdings to Reliance New Energy Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, at an enterprise value of US$771 million, according to a statement issued by the Mumbai-listed energy group on Sunday.

The purchase will give Reliance a ready global platform and an opportunity to grow in key green energy markets including in the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Reliance, the flagship company of founder and chairman Ambani, has almost US$74 billion in annual sales. Ambani, 64, is ranked by Forbes as the richest person in Asia, with a net worth of US$101.5 billion.

Employees of Norwegian firm REC Solar Holdings make photovoltaic cells and modules at the company’s manufacturing facility in Singapore. Photo: Agence France-Presse
Employees of Norwegian firm REC Solar Holdings make photovoltaic cells and modules at the company’s manufacturing facility in Singapore. Photo: Agence France-Presse
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The REC acquisition “is in line with our strategy of investing in new and advanced technologies and operating capabilities aimed at achieving Reliance’s goal of enabling 100 gigawatt clean and green energy before the end of this decade”, Ambani said in the statement.

Reliance plans to use REC’s industry leading technology in the Indian firm’s fully integrated, metallic-silicon-to-photovoltaic-panel manufacturing facility at Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex, located in the city of Jamnagar on the western coast of India in the state of Gujarat. This facility’s capacity will start at 4GW, before ramping it up to 10GW per annum, according to Reliance.

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