The company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it is in “advanced negotiations” to acquire an “integrated services provider” with significant experience downstream experience in Europe.

The undisclosed US firm it is now talking to specialises in storage battery technologies that can be used in utility-scale installations, it added.

The Hong Kong-based company, which has become a leading PV module supplier since its recent acquisition of Wuxi Suntech, may also buy a majority interest in a geothermal-pump manufacturer and may increase its existing stake in an unidentified hydrogen-power specialist.

In