Chinese Solar Firm Hanergy Loses IKEA Partnership
November 03 2015 - 12:20AM
Dow Jones News
HONG KONG—A Chinese solar-equipment manufacturer at the center
of a probe by Hong Kong regulators has lost a high-profile
partnership with IKEA Group to sell solar panels in Europe.
IKEA said on its website that its deal with the solar-panel
maker, Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd., ended Oct. 31 and that
it would have a "new and even more attractive offer" for solar
panels next year. A spokesman for Hanergy's parent company said he
couldn't immediately comment.
Hanergy Thin Film sells rooftop solar-power kits to residential
customers at IKEA stores in Europe, mostly in the U.K. The kits
sell for around £ 5,200 (US$8,000) and come with a promise to cut
typical household electricity bills in half.
Although the terms of the deal weren't disclosed, IKEA received
a 10% cut of Hanergy's sales in exchange for giving Hanergy floor
space to operate its kiosks, according to two people familiar with
the matter.
Hanergy recently said it sold 800 kits in the first half of
2015. That was far below its ambition to eventually sell one kit a
day at as many as 300 locations, which would translate into $200
million in annual profit, one of the people said. IKEA didn't
immediately respond to requests for further comment.
Losing IKEA as a partner is a blow to Hanergy and its chairman,
Li Hejun, who is embroiled in an investigation by Hong Kong's
securities regulator, which has ordered the company's shares remain
suspended pending the outcome.
Mr. Li saw shares in his Hong Kong-listed company plunge 47% in
minutes in May after they rose more than fourfold earlier this
year. Hanergy's rising stock performance had puzzled analysts and
industry observers, mainly because its market share for solar
panels was tiny. Earlier this year, Hanergy's market capitalization
grew bigger than that of Sony Corp. and at one point briefly made
Mr. Li the richest man in China, at least on paper.
Write to Wayne Ma at wayne.ma@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 03, 2015 00:05 ET (05:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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