NEWSMAKER-SolarWorld CEO lands in the spotlight on Opel
FRANKFURT, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Frank Asbeck, chief executive of Germany's SolarWorld AG (SWVG.DE), has a well-deserved reputation as a maverick -- richly earned by turning an idea into a company with staff of about 2,100 in just 10 years time.
Asbeck reinforced his reputation on Wednesday with a stunning announcement that SolarWorld -- which makes solar-grade silicon, solar cells and panels -- plans to make an offer for General Motor's GM.N German unit Opel.
Asbeck, who planned to become a farmer when he was a child, told Reuters that he is serious about the plans even though some analysts dismissed the bold move as a gag.
"It's not a gag," he told Reuters. "It's a serious offer."
It is not the first time Asbeck, 49, has raised eyebrows.
In the early 1990s, Asbeck applied for a photovoltaic project of the Bonn municipal utility and later installed what was then the world's biggest photovoltaic system on the roof of a hall.
Asbeck set up an engineering office for plant equipment in 1988. He founded SolarWorld in 1998 in Bonn and it benefited almost immediately from new renewables energy laws set up by the Social Democrat-Greens government.
Asbeck runs one of the three largest solar groups in the world with a staff of about 2,100 people. It's the sort of success story that might happen regularly elsewhere but not in Germany.
SolarWorld's strong growth rates and its spectacular share gains -- and dips -- have often put it in the headlines.
Asbeck has also been part of delegations of business leaders on trips abroad by Chancellor Angela Merkel in the past.
Asbeck, who has a taste for expensive sports cars and owns a Maserati, clearly enjoys being in the spotlight.
Two years ago he surprised markets by taking over the solar activities of Shell.
And now he has made a bold move for one of Germany's most established carmakers, Opel, even though GM has said it is not for sale.
Asbeck said the company intends to develop a new generation of vehicles with energy-efficient and low emission engines.
Sometimes called the "Sonnenkoenig" (sun king) in Germany, Asbeck was a founding member of the Greens party in North-Rhine Westphalia.
He financed his studies in agricultural engineering by delivering fruits to bio supermarkets in Bonn.
Asbeck's path into photovoltaics began in 1988, when he set up an engineering office in Bonn. He then entered the business of photovoltaic modules and solar components before he created SolarWorld in 1998.
A year later his company launched an initial public offering. Earlier this month, Asbeck said that he is expecting sales and profits to grow by 25 percent to 30 percent in 2009.
(Additional reporting by Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin; Editing by Sharon Lindores)
