• Moser Baer's solar photovoltaic subsidiary to raise Rs. 411 crore to fund its growth
• The transaction values the PV business at Rs. 6,350 crore

New Delhi, September 4, 2008: Moser Baer India Limited, the global technology company, today announced that its wholly owned photovoltaic (PV) subsidiary has entered into definitive agreements to raise Rs. 411 crore from a consortium of global investors, including Nomura, CDC Group, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, IDFC PE, and IDFC. This is to fund the subsidiary's ambitious growth plans.

Significantly, the transaction values Moser Baer's PV business at Rs. 6,350 crore ($1.44 billion).

This round of fund raising follows the company's previous private equity funding transaction of Rs. 400 crore in November 2007. In all, the wholly owned subsidiary would have raised Rs. 811 crore of private funding.

Moser Baer plans to use the capital infusion to the capacity expansion of its high efficiency crystalline silicon and thin film solar verticals. The company currently has an annual capacity of 120MW, including 40MW of amorphous silicon Gen 8.5 thin film modules. This investment is intended to fund the expansion of the crystalline silicon cell manufacturing to 180MW and amorphous silicon thin film to 120MW.

Ratul Puri, Executive Director, said: "We are pleased with the rapid strides that our PV business is making, as we work towards enabling solar power as a competitive source of energy. This funding from global investors will provide great impetus to the expansion plans we have for the PV business. It also allows Moser Baer to develop a significant global multi-technology platform and consolidate our leadership position in the global photovoltaic business."

Commenting on the development, Luis Miranda, CEO and president of IDFC Private Equity, said: "We have been an investor in Moser Baer's PV business since October 2007. This second round of investment in the business by IDFC PE reaffirms our view that Moser Baer's photovoltaic business is very well positioned to emerge as one of the leading companies in the global photovoltaic space."

Yoshiki Hashimoto, the Head of Asia Merchant Banking Division of Nomura, a leading global Japanese bank, said: "We believe Moser Baer has significant potential to become a global leader in the solar PV space with a great management team and with more than a decade of technology manufacturing experience. Our investment will help Moser Baer rapidly scale up and reach grid parity economics in the near future."

Ravi Khanna, CEO of the PV Business, added: "Moser Baer is pursuing a differentiated strategy in the high growth photovoltaic business. As a company we are uniquely positioned to be a global leader in solar PV. We straddle multiple technologies and are present across the entire PV value chain—we manufacture cells and modules and we secure critical feedstock through strategic alliances."

The company currently has production lines in crystalline silicon cell manufacturing and thin film in Greater Noida in the National Capital Region. The company is setting up a thin film PV plant near Chennai with a proposed 500MW annualized capacity. The Chennai and the Greater Noida plants will be manufacturing Gen 8.5 thin film panels measuring 5.72 square metres.

Photovoltaic industry growth
Higher energy costs, declining fossil fuel supplies and a thrust on reducing carbon emissions have ensured that that the world wide interest in the renewable energy space and particularly PV continues to grow. Driven by recent significant technological advancements, it is estimated that the solar market will have a 43% CAGR and is poised to achieve grid parity in the short to medium term. Current demand projections translate to a market value of $50-70 billion by 2010. Solar market has grown from $13 billion in 2005 to an estimated $40 billion this year.

Demand from Europe (Spain, Italy, and Germany) has been very strong. A key trend in solar energy sector is the diversification away from the top markets like Germany and Japan. Spain and other European countries and the US will continue to drive demand through 2009. The growing demand in developing countries like India and South Korea will further drive the market up.

About the Company
Moser Baer, headquartered in New Delhi, is a leading global technology company. Established in 1983, the company successfully developed cutting edge technologies to become the world's second largest manufacturer of Optical Storage media like CDs and DVDs. The company also emerged as a leading edge player in next-generation of storage formats, especially Blu-ray discs. Recently, the company has also transformed itself from a single business into a multi-technology organisation, diversifying into exciting areas of Solar Energy, Home Entertainment and IT Peripherals and Consumer Electronics.

Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company manufactures photovoltaic cells and modules by straddling multiple technologies including crystalline silicon, concentrator, nano technologies and thin films. Moser Baer Entertainment offers home video titles in various Indian languages at unmatched prices and is also engaged in film production and theatrical distribution. The company has also initiated marketing of a series of IT Peripherals and Consumer Electronics gadgets.
Moser Baer employs over 7,500 full-time employees and multiple manufacturing facilities in the suburbs of New Delhi.

Website: www.moserbaer.in

Note
Determining the valuation of Moser Baer's PV business requires making complex and subjective judgments regarding projected financial and operating results, the company's unique business risks, the liquidity of its shares and its operating history and prospects at the time of the valuation. These assumptions are inherently uncertain. If any one or more of the assumptions underlying the market data proves to be incorrect, actual results may differ from the projections based on these assumptions. Further, the Moser Baer's PV business is a new business line of the company, and accordingly, its valuation may be subject to change over a short period of time. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Disclaimer
Certain statements in this release concerning future growth prospects involve risks and uncertainties, especially those relating to future industry outlook and our ability to manage growth and intense competition within the Industry. Actual market conditions and our performance may differ from our guidance. This estimate is based on current market trends. Among other factors, a sharp and sustained strengthening of the Indian Rupee and a significant weakening in global demand could adversely impact the company's earnings.

For further information contact

Monica Srivastava
msrivastava@corvoshandwick.co.in
Mobile:  +91-11-40501240, +91-9899045863