SunEdison Inc., the solar project developer, has raised US$590 million to fund the previously announced acquisition of First Wind, which has a portfolio of 1,300 megawatts of projects across the United States.
SunEdison raised $190 million of proceeds through the secondary offering of SunEdison Semiconductor shares. The offering of SunEdison Semiconductor shares was priced on January 14, through which SunEdison sold approximately 12.9 million shares.
SunEdison also secured a $400 million credit commitment from financial institutions. This includes a 24-month loan secured with a portion of SunEdison’s shares in TerraForm Power. The $590 million in proceeds from these transactions will be used to fund the cash portion of the upfront consideration to purchase First Wind.
In November 2014, SunEdison and TerraForm Power signed a definitive agreement to acquire First Wind for $2.4 billion, of which SunEdison’s upfront portion of the consideration is approximately $1 billion, comprised of the previously announced $340 million seller convertible note and the remainder in cash. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015, subject to usual and customary conditions and regulatory approvals.
“These funds are a major step forward in our acquisition of First Wind,” said Brian Wuebbels, Chief Financial Officer of SunEdison. “Our ability to secure this funding, while preserving the upside in value from our ownership in TerraForm Power, speaks to the strength of the growth platform we are creating.”