Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG (SI) Monday said it will close its solar business segment after negotiations with potential buyers failed to result in a deal.

"After seven months of intensive negotiations regarding the solar thermal business, it finally turned out that no investor could be found for the business, due to the increasingly difficult market situation," said Siemens spokesman Torsten Wolf, confirming an earlier report in the Handelsblatt newspaper. The closure will cost a medium double-digit million amount, Mr. Wolf said, but would not be more specific.

The company decided to try and sell the segment in 2012, but it was too difficult to reach an agreement which suited both seller and buyer, Mr Wolf said. The restructuring will begin immediately, he added, the results of which should take effect this fiscal year.

Siemens took over Israel 's Solel Solar Systems for 285 million euros ($373 million) in 2009. The German company had wanted to become a world leader in solarthermics, but the business didn't meet expectations amid fierce competition and falling prices.

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