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Smart Grid Has its Best Year; Solar Slightly Up from 2009
Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy market intelligence,
consulting and communications firm, today released 2010 merger and
acquisition (M&A) and funding activity for the cleantech sectors of
solar, smart grid and wind.
To download a copy of funding reports for all sectors, visit: http://www.mercomcapital.com/cleanenergyreports.php.
Download charts and graphs: Solar 2010, Smart Grid 2010, Wind 2010.
"Considering 2009 was a recession year, solar was only slightly up in
2010. After a good second quarter, VC investments trended down in Q3
and Q4," commented Raj Prabhu, Managing Partner at Mercom Capital Group.
2010 VC activity came in at $1.67 billion in 65 transactions, up 18
percent over 2009 ($1.4 billion). There was increased activity in
large-scale solar project funding as well as debt and other funding
types, pointing to an ease in the availability of credit after a
challenging 2009. A total of 148 different investors participated in VC
funding rounds in 2010. Credit facilities provided to Chinese
companies by Chinese banks came in at an eye popping $34 billion,
dwarfing all other transactions in solar in 2010.
Solar M&A transactions in 2010 totaled $2 billion in 44 deals.
Solar project M&A activity amounted to another $450 million in 18
deals out of which only four were disclosed.
Large-scale project funding came in at $4.1 billion in 2010, while debt
and other funding types logged in $36 billion of which $34 billion were
in the form of credit facilities provided by Chinese Government Banks to
Chinese companies, which included LDK Solar, Yingli Solar, JA Solar,
Suntech and Trina Solar.
"It was a banner year for Smart Grid in terms of VC funding and M&A
activity, with VC funding almost doubling compared to 2009. 87
different investors participated in VC rounds in 2010," further
commented Raj Prabhu. VC funding in the Smart Grid sector was at its
highest compared to the previous two years with $769 million in 51
deals, an 88 percent increase over 2009 ($410 million). M&A
activity was also robust for the Smart Grid sector in 2010 with 40
transactions. Only four were disclosed for a total of $1.3 billion, of
which $1 billion was the acquisition of Ventyx by ABB.
The Wind sector also saw a 40 percent increase in VC and PE activity in
2010 with $277 million invested compared to $198 million in 2009. Large
offshore wind projects boosted project funding activity to over $9
billion in 2010. M&A transactions in the Wind sector came to $1.3
billion in 23 deals, with the $860 million acquisition of John Deere
Renewables by Exelon making up the bulk of it.
To download a copy of the complete annual report for all sectors, visit: http://www.mercomcapital.com/cleanenergyreports.php
Download charts and graphs: Solar 2010, Smart Grid 2010, Wind 2010.
Solar
Notable VC transactions for the Solar sector in 2010 included
BrightSource Energy VC raise of $176 million, followed closely by
Solyndra's raise of $175 million and Amonix, which secured a series B
raise of $129.4 million. Project funding transactions worth noting
included, Torresol Energy (Valle 1 and Valle 2 CSP plants) for $760
million, Abengoa Solar and JGC Corporation (CSP Plant) for $451 million,
SunPower (California Valley Solar Ranch Project) for $450 million and
Abengoa Solar and ITOCHU Corporation (CSP Plant) for $448 million.
2010 top five investors in solar included Good Energies, New Enterprise
Associates, Applied Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Polaris
Venture Partners. Project funding investments for 2010 were led by
Mizuho Corporate Bank, Natixis, Unicredit Group, BNP Paribas and
Centrobanca.
Among the top M&A transactions for Solar this year, the acquisition
of Etimex Solar by Solutia for $326 million followed by Recurrent Energy
by Sharp Corp for $305 million lead the list closely followed by
NextLight Renewable Power by First Solar for $285 million and SunRay by
SunPower for $277 million.
Solar Q4
Total VC funding for the Solar sector in Q4 came in at $238 million for
16 transactions out of which 14 were disclosed compared to $169 million
for 11 disclosed transactions in Q3. Project funding came in at $2.32B
in 14 disclosed deals out of a total of 15 deals. Noteworthy project
funding transactions included $450 million for SunPower followed closely
by $448 million for Abengoa Solar and ITOCHU Corporation. Significant
VC investments included $110 million for Abound Solar, $26 million for
1366 Technologies and $25 million for SolarEdge Technologies.
At $669 million, there was a surge in M&A activity during Q4
compared to $586 million in Q3. Out of 27 M&A transactions in Q4,
eight were disclosed, which was the same in Q3. Significant M&A
transactions in the Solar sector included the acquisition of Glory
Silicon Technology Investments (Hong Kong Limited) by Suntech Power
Holdings for $127 million and the acquisition of Sino Light Investments
by Solargiga Energy Holdings for $108 million.
Smart Grid
Top Smart Grid VC transactions included the $165 million raise by
Landis+Gyr, the $106 million raise by Trilliant and the $52 million
raise by OpenPeak. The acquisition of Ventyx by ABB for more than $1
billion remained the largest M&A transaction for the year. Other
significant Smart Grid transactions included Maxim Integrated Products'
acquisition of Teridian Semiconductor for $315 million and NXP
Semiconductors' acquisition of Jennic for $20 million. Top five
investors in Smart Grid in 2010 included GE Energy Financial Services,
Emerald Technology Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,
Foundation Capital and RockPort Capital Partners.
Smart Grid Q4
Funding activity in the Smart Grid sector during Q4 remained flat
compared to Q3. Total disclosed investments in Smart Grid was $188
million for 18 transactions out of which 17 were disclosed compared to
$187.25 million for nine transactions out of which seven were disclosed
in Q3. Significant VC funding transactions in the sector included a $50
million raise by OPower, a $24 million Series B raise by AlertMe and a
$24 million Series C raise by Ice Energy. Debt and other funding for
the quarter totaled $15 million for one transaction. Out of 15 Smart
Grid M&A transactions, none were disclosed.
Wind
VC transactions for 2010 increased to $277 million for 11 transactions
out of which 10 were disclosed compared to $198 million for 20
transactions in 2009. Significant VC transactions in 2010 included
eGen's raise of $79 million followed by Champlin Windpower and Nordic
Windpower's raise of $50 million and $38 million (Series C)
respectively. Top VC investors for the sector included Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers, Khosla Ventures and MissionPoint Capital Partners.
Among significant large-scale project funding transactions, C-Power
raised $1.7 billion, followed by Terra-Gen Power which raised $1.2
billion. Rabobank, European Investment Bank, and Manulife Financial
Corporation (Manulife) were some of the investors who topped the list
for Wind project funding this year. Other debt transactions included
China Windpower, which raised a $732 million credit line and Pattern
Energy Group, which raised $400 million in equity financing.
M&A transactions for the wind sector including projects in 2010 came
in at $2.37 billion in 49 deals. The acquisition of John Deere
Renewables by Exelon Corporation for $860 million, Seajacks
International by Riverstone Holdings for $207 million, and Clipper
Windpower by United Technologies Corp for $112 million is the major
M&A activities for the year.
Wind Q4
In the fourth quarter, the Wind sector VC investments came in at $59
million for three deals compared to the third quarter which came in at
$102 million for the same number of deals. Project and other funding
investments increased to $4.9B for 24 transactions out of which 23 were
disclosed. Notable VC transactions included a $50 million raise by
Champlin Windpower, a $5.8 million raise by Greengate Power Corporation,
and a $3.14 million raise by NGenTec. Significant project funding
transactions included C-Power for $1.7B, Trianel for $919 million and
Brookfield Renewable Power for $350 million.
Out of nine M&A transactions in Q4, three were disclosed for a total
of $707 million compared to Q3 which had a total of nine deals out of
which three were disclosed for $922 million. Significant transactions
in the sector included the acquisition of Clipper Windpower by United
Technologies for $112 million, followed by Mengdong Xiehe New Energy by
Jilin Power Share for $27.5 million. The most notable project
acquisition was Brookfield Renewable Power's Comber Wind Project
acquisition by Brookfield Renewable Power Fund for $567 million.
According to the Department of Energy, $2.5 billion was spent in the
fourth quarter of 2010 compared to $3.04 billion in Q3. DOE has spent a
total of $10.39 billion to date out of the $32 billion funding
commitments from the Recovery Act.
To download all funding transactions for Q4, visit: http: http://www.mercomcapital.com/cleanenergyreports.php
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