SOLON SE announces management buyout of Austrian subsidiary SOLON HILBER Technologie

As part of a management buyout, SOLON SE will spin off the core operations of its Austrian subsidiary SOLON HILBER Technologie GmbH (SHT). The majority of business operations will now be undertaken by the original founder, Franz Hilber, in a new company called HILBER SOLAR GmbH beginning on January 1, 2011. HILBER SOLAR will specialize in the manufacturing of newlydeveloped photovoltaic systems. The management buyout will secure more than 100 jobs at the Hilber group in Tyrol, Austria.

According to Stefan Säuberlich, CEO of SOLON SE, "SOLON SE will focus on its core markets at its manufacturing sites to enhance the competitiveness of the company. We welcome the decision by Franz and Peter Hilber to realign the subsidiary's operations and thereby improve the future prospects of most of our employees." Franz Hilber, CEO of HILBER SOLAR, stated that, "After years of collaboration in the SOLON Group, our company will now operate independently again. This allows us to concentrate on our strengths - the development and marketing of photovoltaic systems for both consumers and industry alike."

The spinoff of SHT is a central component of the restructuring program that SOLON initiated last year. The program calls for placing a greater focus on the core competencies and markets of the company and introducing a series of measures for optimizing cost structures and hence improving the competitiveness of the company on the global stage. Based on the results of a comprehensive manufacturing site analysis, SOLON has chosen to abandon its limitedcapacity manufacturing plant in Steinach in order to archive necessary cost savings. The company has also decided to stop manufacturing dualaxis solar tracking systems and instead focus on other solar power systems.