5N Plus enters space solar cell business with acquisition of Azur Space

Canada-based high-purity metals and compounds provider 5N Plus has agreed to acquire Germany’s Azur Space Solar Power GmbH, a manufacturer of multi‐junction solar cells for space and terrestrial concentrated photovoltaic applications.

The Montreal-based company will buy all the issued and outstanding shares of Azur for a sum between €73 million and €79 million. “This acquisition is the foundation of a strategic transformation that will unlock notable market potential,” said 5N Plus CEO, Arjang Roshan. “Azur and 5N Plus complement each other and our integration will culminate in a sustainable supply chain which will ensure the competitiveness and security of supply for our customers and government agencies.”

Founded in 1964, Azur Space is headquartered in Heilbronn, in southwest Germany, and has 250 employees. It produces highly expensive triple-junction space solar cells with an average efficiency of up to 30% and is planning to develop ultra-thin solar cells with up to 35%.

5N Plus operates in Europe, North America, and Asia and is one of the world’s largest raw material suppliers for the thin-film solar module manufacturing industry, to which it provides purified metals such as bismuth, gallium, germanium, indium, selenium and tellurium, and related II-VI semiconducting compounds such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium sulphide (CdS) and indium antimonide (InSb).

U.S. manufacturer First Solar has been among its clients since 2007. In the latest supply deal, announced in November, the panel maker agreed to buy semiconductor materials for the manufacture of CdTe panels.