Meyer Burger sells solar systems unit to former executive

Swiss solar equipment maker Meyer Burger Technology AG (SWX:MBTN) today said it is selling its Solar Sys­tems busi­ness to Patrick Hofer-Noser, who acted as head of the division between 2012 and 2017.

Under the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the current quarter, the business and its 32 em­ploy­ees will be transferred to a newly created company, called 3S Solar Plus AG. The unit supplies its MegaSlate solar roof and facade systems mainly to the Swiss mar­ket.

The sale, which follows the evaluation of strategic options over the past few months, is part of a restructuring of Meyer Burger's Thun site in Switzerland. The company has said previously that all manufacturing activities in Thun are to be discontinued by the end of 2018, with production of diamond wire saws to be moved to China.

The price remained confidential. As a result of the sale, Meyer Burger will book a loss in the low single-digit million range, including a goodwill recycling of around CHF 1 million (USD 1m/EUR 836,000). Chief executive Hans Braendle said Meyer Burger has "found an industrial and especially also local solution for the MegaSlate business and the employees".

The future owner of the business was a founding member and later chief executive of 3S Industries AG, which merged into Meyer Burger in 2010. He served as chief technology officer at Meyer Burger until 2012 and then led the energy systems business from April 2012 to April 2017. Until he left Meyer Burger in December 2017, he acted as policy liaison officer.

(CHF 1 = USD 1.001/EUR 0.836)

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