Once a holder of a 19.5% strategic interest in Italian start-up Estelux, SOLON SE has confirmed that it has now acquired the company in a 100% equity investment purchase. Estelux has been planning the construction of a solar-grade silicon manufacturing facility in Ferrara, Italy and had awarded the engineering of the plant to Jacobs Engineering Group. The facility is expected to boast an initial annual capacity of 4,000 tons by the end of 2010.
The shares, held by SOLON’s Italian subsidiary SOLON S.p.A., will serve to expand the company’s supply base for raw materials and improve the company’s access to solar-grade silicon. The site of the Ferrara plant is now ready for construction, and has seen a total investment of €400 million, according to the companies.