WUXI, China and LONDON, Jan. 31 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), one of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, announced that it has established Suntech Europe Ltd., a wholly-owned corporation, as part of a natural evolution to expand its customer base as well as to deepen the service and support offered to its customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The headquarters for Suntech Europe will be in London with sales offices expected to be opened in key cities in the region commencing in 2007.
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Suntech has been actively selling its products into Europe which accounts for the majority of its revenues over the past five years. Its newly acquired subsidiary, MSK Corporation has also generated significant revenue from sales in Europe over the course of its 20 years selling PV products. Mr. Jerry Stokes who had served as Vice President of International Sales and Marketing for MSK with responsibility for MSK's international sales and marketing ex-Japan has been appointed as President of Suntech Europe with responsibility for the EMEA region for the Suntech group. The Suntech and MSK sales and marketing force in the EMEA region will be integrated under Mr. Stokes. The Suntech and MSK customer base is complementary and the company believes that this alignment will optimize serving respective customer bases and continuing the accelerated sales momentum in this key region. In addition to selling PV cells and modules, Suntech Europe will focus on expanding the sale of MSK's building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) product which will build upon its first mover advantage in this space.
The MSK brand in EMEA will continue to be preserved and its customers will be supported by Suntech Europe.
Mr. Stokes has been actively involved in the solar PV, fuel cell, energy conversion and usage industries in Europe for over 20 years including over three years at MSK. "I am delighted to assume this on-the-ground role to ensure that we provide the highest level of service to the Suntech family of customers as we grow the business. I am looking forward to expanding and unifying our customer base, establishing and maintaining long standing relationships," said Mr. Stokes.
"The establishment of Suntech Europe and regional offices is critical for Suntech to maintain its momentum as a strong leader within the European market as exemplified by our recent 23+MW contract win for the world's largest solar farm in Spain. Mr. Stokes experience makes him uniquely qualified to pursue new sales initiatives in the BIPV space in combination with Suntech's resources and scale. Given the breadth of MSK's success in developing a sustainable and deep customer base in Europe and Jerry's strong track record in the PV industry, I believe that establishing Suntech Europe under Jerry's leadership will ensure that we optimize our respective customer bases and continue our accelerated sales momentum in this key region," said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech's chairman and CEO.
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a leading solar energy company in the world as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech provides solar solutions for a green future. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost effective and environmentally friendly PV cells and modules for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech's majority-owned subsidiary, MSK Corporation is one of the top-ranked companies in the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) space. Suntech's customers are located in various markets worldwide, including key markets throughout Europe, Japan, China and the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will, " "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, Suntech's expectations with respect to the Suntech Europe contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Suntech's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F. Suntech does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
