TODAY’S STUDY: THE SOLAR BUSINESS, Q3 2011

Solar Funding and M&A, Q3 2011 Report; Funding and merger & acquisition activity for the Solar sector
October 2011 (Mercom Capital Group)

Introduction

Venture Capital (VC) funding in the solar sector remained steady in Q3 2011 with $372 million raised compared to $354 million in Q2 2011. The number of deals funded was slightly higher with 31 deals compared to the 26 that were recorded in Q2 2011.

A total of 42 different investors participated in these funding rounds with only Good Energies involved in multiple transactions.

Year-to-date funding in 2011 comes to about $1.4 billion, which is on pace with last year’s funding activity which amounted to $1.7 billion. In terms of number of deals, 2011 is already ahead of the total 2010 year end numbers.

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Most of the VC funding this quarter involved solar downstream companies. Heliovolt’s $85 million raise was the top VC funding deal this quarter.

Large-scale project funding amounted to $2.4 billion in 26 deals in Q3 2011, with most of the projects (23) that received funding being PV projects.

Debt funding in Q3 2011 amounted to $452 million in five announced deals. The top three involved Chinese companies include China Sunergy, Daqo New Energy and Hanwha SolarOne.

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Q3 2011 was a very active quarter for M&A with 20 transactions announced amounting to $563 million. Top M&A transactions included the acquisition of Solar Silicon Valley by JA Solar for $180 million, followed by the acquisition of Fotowatio Renewable ventures U.S. by MEMC for $131 million and Guodian Ningxia Solar acquisition by China Guodian Corporation for $88 million.

2011 so far has been much more active for M&A deals compared to 2010, signaling that the move towards industry consolidation may have begun.

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VC/PE Funding

VC funding in the solar sector held steady with $372 million in 31 deals, compared to VC funding in Q2 2011 totaling $354 million in 26 deals.

This was the most active quarter for VC funding deals since Q1 2010 with 31 transactions.

Forty-two different investors participated in these funding rounds.

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Solar downstream companies were involved in the most number (11) of VC deals in Q3 2011. Year-to-date solar downstream companies have been involved in 21 VC deals. Thin film companies have received the most amount of funding with $433 million raised.

The top VC funding deal in Q3 2011 was Heliovolt’s $85 million raise, followed by $50 million raised by OneRoof Energy and $26 million raised by Calisolar. The top five VC deals also included Clear Power Finance’s $25 million raise and Solexant’s $23 million raise.

The US accounted for most of the VC deals with 27 out of the 31 deals announced in Q3 of 2011.

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Large-Scale Project Funding

Twenty-three of the 26 large-scale projects that announced funding in Q3 2011 were for PV projects.

The top project funding deal announced in Q3 2011 was a $361 million raise by Nuova Rete Solare, followed by $356 million raised by Maharashtra State Power Generation Co. for its Sakri Solar Power Plant and $237 million raised by First Solar Development Canada.

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Other top deals included $219 million raised by First Solar Development Canada and $200 million raised by Sun Edison for its multi-site project.

The U.S. Export–Import Bank was the most active lender with seven deals in Q3 2011 amounting to approximately $568 million in project lending.

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Debt Funding

Debt funding amounted to $452 million in five announced deals in Q3 2011. Top deals included $160 million in credit facilities for China Sunergy from China Development Bank, a $154 million loan for Daqo New Energy from Bank of China and a $100 million term loan for Hanwha SolarOne by Standard Chartered Bank and Korea Development Bank.

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Mergers and Acquisition

Q3 2011 was a very active M&A quarter with 20 transactions announced for $563 million.

This has been the most active quarter since Q1 2010 for the number of M&A transactions. Only eight of the 20 transactions had details disclosed indicating a much higher amount of M&A activity.

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Overall, 2011 year-to-date has been much more active for M&A transactions compared to 2010 signaling that the industry consolidation may have begun.

Sixteen project mergers and acquisitions amounting to $152 million were recorded in Q3 2011. Only two transactions out of the 16 announced had transaction details disclosed.

Most of the project M&A activity in Q3 2011 involved PV projects. Eleven projects out of a total of 16 were PV projects.