LDK Solar expands in Italy with new acquisition

Xinyu City, China’s LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) said today it has acquired a controlling interest of 70 percent in Milan, Italy’s Solar Green Technology, a systems integrator of turnkey photovoltaic plants in the Italian market.

LDK, which manufactures and distributes multicrystalline solar wafers on a global level, is looking to become a bigger player in the developing Italian PV market. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

This investment is expected to increase LDK Solar's efforts to develop new projects and strengthen its presence in the Italian PV sector. Through the acquisition, Solar Green Technology plans to provide project opportunities and technical support to LDK.

"Solar Green Technology's management and workforce have demonstrated strong competence and boast solid experience in the PV market,” said LDK’s CEO Xiaofeng Peng, in a news release. “We believe access to Solar Green Technology's wealth of resources will be an effective and immediate tool for LDK Solar's efforts in managing development activity in the Italian PV market, which is currently one of the most dynamic and profitable European markets."

The Italian PV market is seen as one of the fastest growing markets (see ET Solar to sell modules to Italy). In 2008, Italy had installed 258 megawatts of solar, behind leaders including Spain, Germany, the United States and South Korea (see Spain leads 2008 solar market).

China's Trina Solar also manufactures solar PV products including monocrystalline and multicrystalline ingots, wafers and cells. Trina Solar has been expanding in a number of European countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium, where government incentives have accelerated the adoption of solar. In June, Trina announced plans to establish a warehouse operation in the United States (see Trina Solar’s new warehouse to serve growing U.S. market).