Centrotherm photovoltaics AG has today submitted an application to the relevant District Court of Ulm for the launching of insolvency protection proceedings (pursuant to the German Act Relating to the Further Simplification of the Reorganization of Companies [ESUG], and Section 270b of the German Insolvency Directive [InsO]), and for the opening of insolvency proceedings under its own administration in connection with this application.

Centrotherm photovoltaics is one of the leading equipment supplier for PV industry. The company business is focused on crystalline silicon, but the company has activities also in the thin film PV business. In the past years, the company grew significantly thanks to its turnkey line business and high manufacturing capacity growth.

With the help of these proceedings, the company aims to consistently pursue the reorganization path that it has already adopted. The application includes the subsidiaries centrotherm thermal solutions GmbH & Co. KG and centrotherm SiTec GmbH. The activities of the companies centrotherm management services GmbH & Co. KG and centrotherm cell & module GmbH are to be prospectively bundled within the parent company as part of the reorganization. All other subsidiaries both in Germany and abroad will continue to operate as previously, and will not participate in the insolvency protection proceedings.

The German Act Relating to the Further Simplification of the Reorganization of Companies (ESUG), an instrument to provide protection to companies in insolvency proceedings, and an act which did not come into force until March 1, 2012, allows companies to restructure themselves based on a coordinated reorganization and future concept. During the "protective" phase, which is limited to three months, the company is largely protected from creditors' enforcements and sanctions, and can remain fully operational.

The Management and Supervisory boards of centrotherm photovoltaics AG are convinced that this step is the best option in the company's current difficult situation to successfully conclude the Group's reorganization (which has already started), in the interests of employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders and creditors, and to thereby secure the Group as a going concern.