Vivint Solar quietly prepares to raise up to $200 million

Although Vivint’s quarterly results call on Tuesday lasted more than an hour, the presentation of the company’s financing activities was bland but sunny – enough contracted tax equity for the next two quarters, over $300 million in an aggregation facility, and a healthy cash position.

During the call Chief Financial Officer Dana Russell was nonchalant about the company’s interest in raising more money, by stating that “we’re always looking to add flexibility and improve our capital structure to maximize its efficiency and take advantage of growth opportunities.”

And while Russell noted that the company had filed a Universal Shelf Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that was about all the information provided.

The prospectus, filed the same day with the SEC, will allow the company to raise up to $200 million, through stock, bonds, etc. “in one or more offerings and in any combination”. Nor is Vivint being any more specific about what it is raising the money for, with Russell stating that the filing “will add flexibility to our capital market strategy and enable us to opportunistically access the public markets from time to time.”

Vivint will have to make additional filings when it intends to actually offer such securities.

For Vivint, this move to raise more capital follows an intentional down-sizing at the company, as it focuses on key markets and attempts to improve profitability. While Vivint’s deployments in Q2 fell 23% year-over-year, the company has reduced quarterly losses significantly, largely due to a higher portion of direct versus third-party sales.