Q- Cells raises IPO range due to strong demand

German solar energy firm

Q-Cells has raised its bookbuilding range to ¤35 to ¤38 for its initial public offering of shares due to strong demand, it said yesterday.

The east German maker of solar cells, which plans to float on Oct. 5 in Frankfurt, had initially priced the shares in a range of ¤29 to ¤34.

Q- Cells’ stock market debut will be the latest in a string of IPOs in Germany’s booming renewable-energy sector, which is boosted by state subsidies and record oil prices that increase the appeal of solar technology.

With the new subscription range, the volume of the IPO could rise to ¤313-million euros ($442-million), up from the initially planned ¤280-million.

A financial source told Reuters the old bookbuilding range had been more than 10 times oversubscribed, making the firm confident it could ask for a higher price

Q- Cells said it wanted to use the proceeds to expand overseas to take on larger Japanese rivals Sharp, Kyocera and Mitsubishi Electric, and Britain’s BP Solar.

Apart from Q-Cells, German solar energy rivals Sunline and Ersol have also said they plan IPOs in the next few months, while peer Solarwatt has not ruled out such a step in the fourth quarter.

For the first half of the year, Q-Cells posted a net income of ¤15.3-million, up 220% from a year ago. Sales rose by 145% to ¤116.7-million euros after ¤47.6-million euros a year ago.