TCL Zhonghuan completes solar industry’s first major capacity acquisition

On March 30, solar wafer giant TCL Zhonghuan announced it had completed its planned acquisition of struggling module manufacturer DAS Solar.

• TCL now owns 59.14% of DAS, having spent RMB 1.26 buying a mix of newly issued shares and existing shares.
• It controls a further 7.2% of voting rights that have been delegated to it by other shareholders.

The deal gives DAS a valuation of just RMB 2.1 billion – a fraction of the RMB 8 billion it was once value at.

• Still, that it was acquired at all is a positive outcome for a firm that has accumulated RMB 4.6 billion in losses since 2024, and operates in an industry drowning in overcapacity.

For TCL, the move advances its vertical integration ambitions by nearly tripling its downstream module manufacturing capacity.

• That will help absorb output from its core upstream wafer business, which has accumulated record losses since 2024 and is weighed down by excessive inventories and falling market share.

Get smart: TCL's push into module manufacturing puts it in direct competition with its own downstream clients – precisely the kind of vertical integration that has exacerbated overcapacity in the past. 

What we’re pondering: Will these clients shift sourcing to alternative suppliers, and how will that affect TCL's upstream business?