Sentis Capital intensifies call for change at Meyer Burger with new website

Sentis Capital said that it expects the Change Meyer Burger website “to provide interested stakeholders with an overview of the measures the company must take to regain shareholder confidence and put the company on the road to success.” The launch of the site follows its calls in December for Meyer Burger to establish GW-scale production of its heterojunction and tandem cell PV technology. The Thun-based group appeared to dismiss Sentis Capital’s request at the time, describing the call for a new strategy as the viewpoint of just a single shareholder.

Sentis Capital announced the new website by claiming that it helped to rescue Meyer Burger from potential insolvency by being the largest contributor to its last capital increase in late 2016. It said that it will announce and justify its voting plans as soon as Meyer Burger outlines its plans for its annual general meeting, scheduled for May 2. It urged all shareholders to vote at the AGM “in the spirit of shareholder democracy,” to push Meyer Burger Technology to “establish modern and shareholder-friendly corporate governance in line with best practice.”

The investment firm, as part of its demands for Meyer Burger to more aggressively commercialize its high-efficiency technology portfolio, reaffirmed its belief in the company’s competitive market position. “As an active shareholder, we want this potential to be finally converted into successful results in the long term and to create shareholder value in the interests of all shareholders,” it said.

In its demands for change in December, Sentis Capital suggested another capital increase or a strategic partnership to help Meyer Burger finance a production expansion of 5 GW to 10 GW a year. Last October, the Swiss group announced a new restructuring program to improve its long -term profitability. It plans include the shifting of its global sales and service operations for standard PV solutions to Asia.