Production at the insolvent solar cell manufacturer Q.CELLS SE has started back up. As the company's preliminary insolvency administrator, Henning Schorisch, announced today, its business operations will continue during the preliminary insolvency proceedings. The investor process will take place at the same time.

Just after the company filed for bankruptcy, Schorisch had contacted suppliers and customers so that production could quickly be resumed at the start of the spring, which is incredibly important for the solar industry. This was all the more vital as the storage facilities were empty at the time of the filing. The production of monocells and multicells is already running at half-utilisation. Q.CELLS solar modules are even being produced in three shifts and will soon be expanded to the full four-shift operation seven days a week. In doing so, employees from cell production will switch to module production. The company is also looking into the possibility of hiring employees from Solibro in Q.CELLS' cell production in order to avoid bottlenecks.

"The workforce at Q.CELLS is understandably upset by the insolvency proceeding, but is still highly motivated," said Schorisch today in Bitterfeld at the company's headquarters. "Everyone is pulling together."

Schorisch intends to restructure Q.CELLS through a sale to one or more investors. The Frankfurt-based office of the M&A consultancy Deloitte has been commissioned with the task of looking for investors. The consultancy will identify potential buyers around the world and reach out to them in the next few weeks. "Our goal is to save as much of Q.CELLS and the jobs as possible," Schorisch stressed. "The next few weeks will show the extent of investor interest." Since the announcement of the bankruptcy, a number of interested parties themselves have also reported to the preliminary insolvency administrator and expressed interest. These include both domestic and foreign companies as well as both financial and strategic investors. At the same time, however, alternative restructuring solutions (with the inclusion of creditors) are being pursued.

In order to improve the starting point for the restructuring, Schorisch will also carry out measures aimed at improving efficiency and enhancing the technology in the preliminary insolvency proceeding. In addition, the sales and marketing department was instructed to take an aggressive approach on the market in order for Q.CELLS to benefit from the start of the solar season with construction despite the insolvency proceeding.

Q.CELLS SE reported bankruptcy on 3 April 2012 after the restructuring targeted in the months prior met with resistance from investors. The solar industry in Germany is under a considerable and ever-growing degree of pricing pressure, especially from Asian competitors. As a result, a number of companies in the sector have filed for bankruptcy in the last few months.

Press contact:
Christoph Möller
möller pr
Telephone: 0221 80 10 87-87
Email: cm@moeller-pr.de
www.moeller-pr.de

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