Meyer Burger Technology AG (SWX:MBTN) has been notified that its largest shareholder, Sentis Capital PCC, is now part of a group with a combined shareholding of over 10% which seeks greater involvement in strategic decisions.
That group controls 10.425% of the voting rights in Meyer Burger, the Swiss solar technology company said Monday, adding that it has not yet received a formal request to call an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting. The group said last week it would call such a meeting and fight to have two genuine shareholder representatives elected to the board of directors.
The group will propose two candidates, Anton Karl and Mark Kerekes, which are co-managing directors of Sentis.
“In the light of recent developments at MBT, it is clear that in the near future important decisions will have to be taken by the solar supplier. Any change in strategy and the associated possible transactions must be carried out with the involvement of the owners and communicated transparently to the market,” says the shareholder group’s press release.
Sentis is a unit of Elbogross SA, which in turn is wholly owned by Russian businessman Petr Kondrashev. It has built a stake of 8.219% in Meyer Burger and has been joined in the shareholder group by the Teutonia Opportunity Fund and private shareholders, according to the release on Friday. They are inviting more shareholders to become part of the group and fight for its goals.
A week ago Meyer Burger reported a negative EBITDA for the first half of 2019, based on preliminary figures, but said it expected to book a breakeven net result after recording an extraordinary income on the sale of its wafering business during the period. It also said the board was reviewing the company’s business model and corporate strategy. “We will evaluate all strategic options for the future. This includes discussions with industrial partners to develop new business models that create sustainable value for our company and our shareholders,” Remo Luetolf, chairman of the board, said on July 22.
In December, Sentis urged Meyer Burger to consider tapping the capital market to expand its in-house solar cell production capacity. It said it was convinced the company had a significant competitive advantage in solar technologies and the needed manufacturing experience.
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Image by Meyer Burger (www.meyerburger.com).
