The majority shareholders of REC Silicon, Hanwha Corporation and Hanwha Solutions Corporation that own around 33.33% joint stake in the Norwegian silicon producer have proposed to acquire the remaining shares in the company.
Hanwha has offered NOK 2.20 ($0.21)/share to acquire the company’s remaining shares, representing an aggregate equity value of NOK 925 million ($88.68 million). The REC Board of Directors has ‘unanimously resolved’ that it recommends the shareholders to accept the offer.
“Hanwha has been a supporting shareholder of the Company for many years, not least in a period which has been challenging for the Company, and REC believes the opportunities that this offer represents in respect of an enhanced partnership with Hanwha is firmly in its interest and in the interests of all the Company’s stakeholders including the shareholders,” said REC Silicon CEO Kurt Levens.
Regarding its offer, Hanwha CEO Ki Won Yang stated, “Hanwha, recognizing its responsibility as REC Silicon ASA’s largest shareholder amid the company’s deep financial distress and strategic challenges, has decided to launch a voluntary tender offer to acquire all shares and delist REC from the Oslo Stock Exchange; following delisting, Hanwha plans to provide adequate financial support and streamline governance to help stabilize operations.”
However, the minority shareholders of the Norwegian company are not happy as they see the offer as ‘scandalously low’. Calling it a ‘lowball offer’, REC’s minority shareholders believe that the underlying values are far higher.
Speaking to The Korea Times, the minority shareholders of REC called the Hanwha offer a ‘disgrace and far from satisfactory’ and that they are considering legal action against the announcement. The offer will be discussed at REC’s Annual General Meeting on June 24, 2025, or it could be earlier in an Extraordinary General Meeting that the company might call.
With the lack of demand for its US-made polysilicon and high cost, REC shut down its Moses Lake factory in the US in 2019. After South Korea-based Hanwha became its majority stakeholder in April 2022, the company planned to restart the factory after the former signed up for a 10-year binding take-or-pay offtake agreement for 100% prime fluidized bed reactor (FBR).
However, REC shut down polysilicon production at the Moses Lake site after its polysilicon failed qualification tests carried out by Hanwha. It then decided to use the equipment here for silicon gas production.
