MERRIMACK – GT Advanced Technologies Inc. acquired privately held Confluence Solar Inc., according to an announcement from the company Wednesday.

The purchase price consisted of $60 million in cash paid to Confluence Solar shareholders at closing, and an additional $20 million of cash earn-outs, payable upon achievement of certain financial and technical milestones through GT’s fiscal 2013. Investors in Confluence Solar include Convexa Capital, OCI and Oceanshore Investors.

The acquisition of Confluence Solar takes GT into a new market segment, officials said, with a next-generation technology offering that will further improve efficiency and lower cost at the high end of the solar PV market.

Confluence Solar develops HiCz, a continuously fed Czochralski growth technology that enables production of high- efficiency monocrystalline solar ingots.

GT said the acquisition is expected to become accretive in the second half of GT’s FY13 and will eliminate previously planned organic development costs in fiscal 2012 and 2013 which, when netted against the costs incurred in the acquired business, will make the acquisition additionally accretive in fiscal 2013.

“This acquisition adds an innovative technology to GT’s PV product portfolio that is well aligned with our strategy to rapidly innovate and develop next-generation crystal growth solutions,” Tom Gutierrez, GT Advanced Technologies president and CEO said in a statement. “Similar to our strategy deployed in the acquisition of Crystal Systems, our primary goal is to become a major equipment supplier to the CCz monocrystalline market by commercializing the technology that we have acquired. We expect to launch a commercial CCz mono equipment offering in our fiscal year 2013.”

Officials said in the announcement that GT is investing in a number of next-generation silicon crystal growth technologies aimed at eliminating some cost of the solar PV value chain. By the end of its second fiscal quarter, which ends Oct. 1, GT expects to introduce its MonoCast growth technology, which will improve the material quality produced in its directional solidification process and allow customers to leverage the value of their investment in GT’s DSS multicrystalline furnaces.

GT Advanced Technologies, formerly GT Solar International, is a global provider of polysilicon production technology, sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for solar, LED and other specialty markets.

For more information, visit www.gtsolar.com.

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashuatelegraph.com.

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