On Tuesday, in the U.S. stock market, the stock price of TCL Zhonghuan's overseas subsidiary Maxeon fell below $0.10, closing at $0.0930 per share.
On the same day, TCL Zhonghuan announced its participation in Maxeon's restructuring and progress on a private placement. The announcement revealed that the issue price is set at $0.1206 per share, representing a 25% discount on the average price of $0.1608 per share (the "issuance-related average price") for the ten consecutive trading days preceding the last trading day before the external regulatory approval or waiver date (August 28, 2024).
TCL Zhonghuan’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Zhonghuan Singapore Investment and Development Private Limited ("Zhonghuan New Investment"), is subscribing to approximately $100 million (subject to actual payment, as there may be rounding differences due to the number of shares being a whole number) at this price, for a total of 829,187,396 shares.
The settlement date for this private placement is August 30, 2024. After the settlement, TCL Zhonghuan’s shareholding in Maxeon, through Zhonghuan New Investment, will increase from 152.835 million shares to 982.022 million shares, and its ownership stake will rise from 26% to 69.30%. From the settlement date, Maxeon will become a subsidiary of TCL Zhonghuan, and its financial results will be consolidated into the company’s financial statements. Additionally, TCL Zhonghuan will have the right to nominate five directors to Maxeon, up from the current three.
It is understood that Maxeon has been actively launching TOPCon patent infringement lawsuits against leading photovoltaic companies overseas this year, filing suits against companies like Canadian Solar, REC, and Hanwha. The overseas TOPCon patent battles have been heating up, although Maxeon’s main battlefield remains the U.S. So far, it has filed three TOPCon lawsuits in Texas. Notably, these companies have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in factories in the U.S., and their U.S. production facilities are expected to start operation by the end of this year.
Maxeon, which spun off from SunPower in 2020, reached an agreement at the time of the split, allowing Maxeon to use the SunPower name globally. Maxeon claims that the agreement prohibits the sale of SunPower-branded products without Maxeon's consent. In response to last month’s SunPower bankruptcy proceedings, Maxeon has filed objections. A Maxeon spokesperson stated that they plan to formally file their objection by the September 20 deadline.
Source：SOLARZOOM
