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Moser Baer announced that its subsidiary Moser Baer Photo Voltaic has raised $100 million from a consortium of investors led by IDFC Private Equity, GIC Special Investments, CDC Group plc and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC). MBPV is the wholly owned subsidiary of the optical storage maker Moser Baer.
The company will use the proceeds to partially finance its plans to increase capacity to 500 MW by 2010. This transaction "will position the photovoltaic subsidiary for a listing on an international exchange of repute", said a statement from the company. This is the largest private equity investment in the solar energy sector in India.
"This investment will enhance the speed of implementation of our plans to emerge as a leading technology driven company in the global photovoltaic space from a position of financial strength and create incremental value for our shareholders. While the photovoltaic business has recently commenced commercial operations, this innovative deal has set a minimum threshold valuation for the photovoltaic business at $1 billion," according to Ratul Puri, Executive Director, Moser Baer.
The company plans to increase the capacity to 500 MW by FY10 through a mix of technologies in the crystalline silicon, concentrator and thin film domain. There is currently a shortage of silicon wafers, a key raw material for the photovoltaic industry. Moser Baer has implemented a flexible three pronged model for securing raw material supply through a mix of strategic investments in silicon manufacturing (Solaria, Stion Corporation and SolFocus), long term wafer supply contracts and spot purchases, it said.
The company’s photovoltaic manufacturing capacities for crystalline silicon, concentrator and thin film technologies are coming up in a renewable energy SEZ in Greater Noida.
According to an earlier report in the media, MBPV was in talks with private equity funds like Blackstone, Carlyle and Warburg Pincus (an existing investor in parent company Moser Baer) to raise capital.