Craig Wellen Appointed Chief Financial Officer of Silicor Materials

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Silicor Materials, Inc., a manufacturer of high-quality solar silicon and aluminum by-products, has appointed Craig Wellen as its new Chief Financial Officer. Leveraging nearly two decades of experience in the energy industry working with growth stage companies and large energy, power and industrial firms, Wellen will provide invaluable strategic guidance as Silicor enters its next phase of growth.

Wellen comes to Silicor with a strong operating background and substantial domestic and cross border transaction experience, having completed more than 40 merger and acquisition transactions and strategic capital raises with a total value in excess of $35 billion. He previously served as CFO of smart grid solutions provider BPL Global, Ltd., where he played an instrumental role in drafting and executing the company's strategic growth plan and leading the sale of the company to a division of Danaher Corporation DHR. Prior to BPL Global, Wellen served as an energy-focused investment banker including as one of the founding partners of Greentech Capital Advisors, a leading investment banking firm focused on sustainable infrastructure, as well as a senior investment banker at Citigroup and Societe Generale.

“Silicor has built a great deal of momentum as it moves toward commercialization, and bringing Craig on board is one of the final pieces of the puzzle,” said Neil Auerbach, managing partner of Hudson Clean Energy Partners and member of the Silicor board. “With one of the strongest finance teams in this business, the company has never been better suited to achieve its primary goal for 2014: to finance and begin construction of its first commercial plant.”

Supporting Wellen's efforts is investment banking veteran Adam Bergman, who joined Silicor in December 2013 as its senior vice president of corporate development and strategy along with Christopher Angelo, senior vice president of finance and a experienced project finance banker. Former Silicor CFO John Beaver was also recently named to Silicor's exemplary board of directors, where he remains a trusted advisor.

Silicor offers high-quality solar silicon at the industry's lowest production cost, enabling cell and module manufacturers to improve their bottom lines without sacrificing product performance. Solar silicon produced via the Silicor process – which can be found in more than 20 million photovoltaic cells worldwide – regularly achieves in-line efficiencies equivalent with material produced through the Siemens process or with fluidized bed reactor technology. Furthermore, because Silicor's process requires up to two-thirds less energy than competing methods, the company's solar silicon is the most environmentally friendly option on the market.

“A lot of companies claim to be disruptive, but it's rare to find an organization like Silicor that truly fits the bill,” said Wellen. “With commercialization on the horizon, the company is poised for tremendous success in one of the world's fastest-growing industries. This is a pivotal time in Silicor's development, and I'm ready to help lead the charge into its next phase of growth.”

Wellen earned a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

About Silicor Materials

Silicor is a manufacturer of high-quality solar silicon and aluminum by-products. The company's silicon purification operations are performed by its wholly owned subsidiary, Silicor Materials Canada Inc., in Ontario, Canada; its state-of-the-art research and development center is located in Berlin, Germany. Silicor's investors include Hudson Clean Energy Partners, Advanced Technology Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, Good Energies, and Ventures West For more information, please visit www.silicormaterials.com.