Sungevity loses acquisition partner, access to public capital

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When Easterly Acquisition Corp. announced its intent to acquire Sungevity in June, most analysts saw this as an opportunity for the residential-solar company to gain access to public funding, allowing it to compete against Sunrun, SolarCity and Vivint Solar.

That opportunity – at least under this specific partnership – is now gone.

On Dec. 31, Easterly sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission officially terminating its acquisition agreement with Sungevity. The deal was expected to be valued at $357 million. No further explanation for the withdrawal was forthcoming from Easterly.

As pv magazine reported at the time the acquisition was announced, the deal seemed to be all but done, pending regulatory approval and a vote from Easterly shareholders, which had been scheduled for Sept. 30. The vote was delayed until Nov. 23 was ultimately not taken, according to Easterly’s SEC letter.

Sungevity, which bills itself as the easiest residential-solar platform provider in the industry, has struggled to keep up with its public-company competitors. The acquisition by Easterly was supposed to provide Sungevity with the public-market dollars to level the playing field.

According to Sungevity, it had hoped to raise $607 million from the Easterly transaction, which it said would significantly “enhance Sungevity’s competitive position, accelerate its strategic development and cement its long-term growth opportunity.” The short-term and long-term implications for Sungevity of the failed acquisition bid were unclear.

At press time, Sungevity had not indicated what its next move would be.

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