By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - 04 January 2012, 13:17
In Editors' Blog

What’s behind the figure of US$58.8 million?

Norsk Hydro invested approximately US$58.8 million in Ascent for roughly a 20% stake in the firm but sold it for US$4 million.

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Mark Osborne

Mark Osborne is currently the Senior News Editor for Photovoltaics International and PV-Tech website. He has launched multiple technology titles in print and online covering manufacturing in the automotive, shipping, semiconductor and solar sectors in a publishing career spanning three decades. Mark started blogging in 2005, the first technology editor to do so and has worked online since 1996. A veteran manufacturing technology journalist and editor, Mark has been responsible for a series of innovative formats for delivering technical content to an engineering-based audience.

News that Norsk Hydro has sold its stake in CIGS thin-film wannabe, Ascent Solar, for US$4 million, to another investor, TFG Radiant Investment Group, may not help the struggling firm with sorely needed cash injections, but it would indicate a level of ‘trust’ in the firm to help ride out the current industry-wide challenges.

However, looking at the investments made by Norsk Hydro since 2007 in Ascent, a rather scary picture emerges. In several significantly sized deals, Norsk Hydro invested approximately US$58.8 million in Ascent for roughly a 20% stake in the firm.

That stake was sold to TFG Radiant for a loss of over US$54 million, barely 4 years later, indicating that there isn’t much to shout about.

What’s behind the figure of US$58.8 million?

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