On September 16th, GCL TECH, a leading high-tech granular silicon company in the photovoltaic sector, announced that it has reached a strategic financing agreement with Infini Capital, a renowned international investment institution backed by Middle Eastern sovereign funds. Through a private placement, the company will issue approximately 47.36 billion shares, raising HK$5.446 billion, equivalent to about $700 million USD, with a six-month lock-up intention period, further consolidating the stability and security of the company's shareholding structure.
According to the announcement, the financing will primarily be used for three purposes: First, as capital reserves for supply-side reform to advance structural adjustments in polysilicon production capacity; Second, to strengthen the company's second growth curve by leveraging its global leading silane gas production capacity and output to achieve overseas substitution, amid multiple factors including increased demand for electronic specialty gases in semiconductor integrated circuits, volume growth in silane demand as TOPCon batteries transition to BC batteries, application demand for silane in solid-state and semi-solid-state batteries in the lithium battery industry, and high-quality requirements for silane gas in display panels, using silane gas to create GCL's new growth pole; Third, to optimize the company's capital structure and solidify its shareholding structure moat.
It is reported that Infini Capital has dual headquarters in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Hong Kong, China, with diversified investment portfolios covering strategic emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, humanoid robots, intelligent manufacturing, and other investment themes. The firm has provided over HK$10 billion in funding support for the rapid development of Chinese high-tech companies.
A relevant official from GCL TECH revealed that both parties will jointly establish a specialized industry fund based on their shared goals of collaborative development and industry optimization. The fund will focus on integrating inefficient and low-quality excess capacity within the industry through market-oriented acquisitions, professional restructuring, and innovative upgrades, driving resource concentration toward high-quality production capacity and ending the industry's disorderly low-price competition.
"This financing not only optimizes GCL TECH's capital structure and reinforces the controlling shareholder's position, but more importantly provides sufficient ammunition for technological iteration and the elimination of backward production capacity," stated industry analysts. Through capital empowerment, GCL TECH will form positive interactions between large-scale application of granular silicon technology, silane gas production capacity and market advantages, and perovskite industry incubation. As the photovoltaic industry currently faces a critical juncture of accelerated technological route iteration and capacity clearance, this partnership between GCL TECH and Infini Capital will help GCL expand its competitive advantages based on existing foundations, efficiently reach high-end markets both domestically and internationally, and convert carbon emission advantages into pricing power, securing a favorable position in the global photovoltaic market's supply-side reform.