By Greentech
Lead Team: SunPower, a manufacturer of solar cells, solar panels and solar
systems, has completed its acquisition of Tenesol, a wholly-owned Total SA
subsidiary, for $165.4 million in cash.
Concurrently
with the closing of this acquisition, Total purchased 18.6 million shares of
SunPower common stock in a private placement at $8.80 per share. Total now
owns approximately 66 percent of SunPower’s common stock.
The
acquisition will help SunPower expand its presence in Europe
and Africa. Tenesol’s well-established engineering and sales channels and
strong team will complement SunPower’s high efficiency, high reliability solar
panels and systems global footprint.
“SunPower
is well positioned to gain share during the current market transition with the
addition of Tenesol’s established European and global customer channels and
strong manufacturing base in Europe and Africa,” said Tom Werner, SunPower
president and CEO.
Tenesol is a
leading solar energy operator in Europe with a strong pipeline in the French
market for large industrial and commercial photovoltaic rooftop solutions.
The company has installed more than 15,000 solar systems worldwide
totaling approximately 500 megawatts (MW) dc.
Tenesol also
expects record revenue of approximately EUR 200 million in 2011from global
off-grid market sector.
“With
SunPower’s industry-leading technology, attractive long-term cost roadmap, our
joint collaboration on research and development and Tenesol’s established
downstream presence, the combined company is well positioned to open new,
largely untapped markets for solar,” said Arnaud Chaperon, senior vice
president, Total Gas and Power Division.
Recently,
SunPower initiated a
13.78-megawatt (DC) solar photovoltaic (PV) power system at Naval Air Weapons
Station China Lake (NAWS China Lake) in California.