Squashing A Solar Joint Venture (SPIR, TSL)

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR) has announced that it has reached an agreement with Gloria Solar Co., Ltd. in Taiwan to liquidate their joint venture called Gloria Spire Solar, LLC.  The venture performed PV systems integration within the United States.  Spire is company which provides turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules and Gloria is a PV module manufacturing company.

The two companies reassessed their strategies over the past several months after the pause in the market for PV systems and reached the decision that the best course of action was to dissolve this venture.  The companies agreed to an allocation of the remaining assets and cash, after all liabilities have been paid. Each company will also receive a share of project leads. Spire Solar Systems will support the current customer base.  Spire will also now be free to develop new opportunities in the U.S. systems market.

The new business will be re-branded as “Spire Solar Systems” and will continue to provide PV systems integration for the U.S. market at the headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts.  Spire was recently awarded a patent for nanophotovoltaic devices formed from silicon or gallium arsenide having sizes in a range of about 50 nanometers to about 5 microns, and the method of their fabrication.  The company is also one of the smaller and less-covered solar-related companies with a market cap under $60 million.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is listed as a supply customer of the company, and most of its big relationships seem to be overseas projects with over 200 customers in 50 countries.

Spire’s other operations are in biomedical and semiconductor, so the company is not a pure-play by any means.  Its stock is down 2% at $7.10 and has traded in a range of $2.94 to $15.64.

Jon C. Ogg
June 11, 2009