Major Chinese PV product manufacturer LONGi announced on March 4 that it is proposing to obtain a 27.25% stake in CENTER Technology. Specifically, LONGi will be purchasing roughly 130 million shares of CENTER for a price of around RMB 1.635 billion. This translates to about RMB 12.5 per share. If this stock-for-cash deal goes through, LONGi will be the second-largest shareholder of CENTER. However, the transfer of shares will not alter the controlling interest of the company.
Also based in China, CENTER specializes in steel structures and cladding systems (i.e., both rooftop and wall-mounted panels). LONGi in its announcement stated that the deal will promote business synergy between the two parties. LONGi is currently developing offerings for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), so CENTER’s expertise will provide a significant advantage with respect to product design and manufacturing. With CENTER at its side, LONGi will be able to capture new opportunities related to PV solutions for large public buildings and further expand its market share for distributed generation projects. All in all, CENTER has what LONGi needs to widen the scope of applications for its products. At the time of announcement, the share price of CENTER was at RMB 9.56.