Hanwha Tightens Grip on REC Silicon, Mandatory Tender Offer Looms

• Hanwha Group secures a 44% stake in REC Silicon, crossing Norway’s takeover threshold and setting the stage for a mandatory offer to minority shareholders.

South Korea’s industrial heavyweight Hanwha Group has taken a decisive stride toward outright ownership of REC Silicon ASA after a voluntary share-purchase offer garnered acceptances representing 43.94 per cent of the Norwegian company’s equity. The stake, acquired through Hanwha’s vehicle Anchor AS, tips the conglomerate past Norway’s one-third control threshold, automatically triggering a mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares under Oslo Stock Exchange rules.

Hanwha pitched NOK 2.20 per share in cash—an amount that values REC Silicon at roughly NOK 925 million (about USD 92 million). Although the silicon-materials specialist’s board recommended shareholders accept, directors were candid in describing the price as “substantially below” the firm’s long-term potential. With few rival suitors on the horizon and no viable standalone funding plan, they acknowledged the bid was the only practical route for investors to realise liquidity.

The transaction marks the latest twist in REC Silicon’s turbulent recent history. The company operates two U.S. plants—one in Moses Lake, Washington, and another in Butte, Montana—but polysilicon output at both sites has been idled amid a prolonged market slump and shifting U.S.–China trade dynamics. Production at Moses Lake ceased in late 2024; key equipment required for manufacturing high-purity silicon gases remains in preservation mode, ready for a possible restart should conditions improve.

For Hanwha, best known in the solar sector for its Qcells module brand, the acquisition offers vertically integrated access to a strategic raw material at a time when Western governments are eager to onshore clean-energy supply chains. The Korean group has repeatedly signalled plans to revive Moses Lake once demand and policy incentives align, positioning the facility as a linchpin of its North American solar ambitions.

Next on the timetable is a formal offer document outlining terms for minority investors. Norwegian regulations allow Hanwha to complete the compulsory tender within weeks, potentially ending REC Silicon’s 25-year chapter as an independent public company. Shareholders who opt to remain once the threshold is crossed could find themselves in an increasingly illiquid stock—or facing a later squeeze-out at the same price.