Hanwha Moves To Fully Acquire REC Silicon Amid Minority Shareholder Uproar

Hanwha Corporation and Hanwha Solutions Corporation-already the largest shareholders in Norwegian silicon materials producer REC Silicon-have unveiled a bid to acquire all remaining shares at NOK 2.20 per share (about USD 0.21), valuing the transaction at roughly NOK 925 million (USD 88.7 million). Together the two Hanwha entities currently control one-third of REC's stock, and REC's board has unanimously backed the tender offer.

Kurt Levens, CEO of REC Silicon, praised Hanwha's longstanding support through "challenging times," saying the proposal would deepen strategic collaboration and serve the interests of the company and its stakeholders. Echoing that sentiment, Hanwha CEO Ki Won Yang emphasized that, in light of REC's "deep financial difficulties and strategic challenges," the voluntary offer-and subsequent delisting from the Oslo Stock Exchange-will be followed by fresh capital injections and governance enhancements to stabilize operations.

Yet the deal has drawn sharp criticism from REC's minority investors, who characterize the NOK 2.20 per-share price as "outrageously low" and plan to explore legal avenues to contest the valuation, which they argue undervalues the company's true worth. The proposal is slated for a shareholder vote at REC's annual meeting on June 24, 2025, with the possibility of an extraordinary meeting called beforehand.

REC Silicon has grappled with downturns in U.S. polycrystalline-silicon demand and high production costs: its Moses Lake, Washington, plant was shut in 2019. In April 2022, Hanwha became REC's majority owner, intending to restart Moses Lake under a decade-long offtake deal for its fluidized-bed-reactor silicon. That plan stalled when Hanwha's quality testing failed to clear the plant's output, forcing REC to suspend FBR silicon production and repurpose the facility for silane-gas manufacture.