Friday, October 11, 2013: SolarCity Corp. (Nasdaq:SCTY) and Zep Solar, Inc., today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for SolarCity to acquire Zep Solar, Inc. for approximately $158 million. The purchase price is payable in shares of SolarCity common stock, and is subject to reduction for the amount of net indebtedness of Zep Solar as of the closing. Zep Solar is one of the leading providers of residential photovoltaic module mounting systems in the U.S., and has been one of SolarCity’s primary component suppliers for residential systems in 2013. Upon close of the acquisition, Zep Solar will operate as an independent business unit of SolarCity.
“Zep Solar’s product allows each of our crews to install significantly more solar every day, and it looks better on the roof than any comparable product we’ve seen. By acquiring Zep Solar, we can deliver solar electricity at a lower cost than was previously possible,” said Tanguy Serra, SolarCity’s executive vice president of operations. “Zep Solar has a very talented team and an extremely strong patent portfolio. We plan to continue to offer the Zep Compatible platform to international installers looking to increase their productivity. We will also continue to maintain the open nature of the Zep Compatible platform and continue to support integration with module manufacturers and other vendors.”
Zep Solar’s product portfolio works as a comprehensive system that reduces the cost and complexity of designing, shipping, warehousing, and installing PV systems. Its technology has helped SolarCity’s installation crews to double the number of residential systems they can install each day since they began using the product earlier this year. After the close of the acquisition, SolarCity and Zep Solar plan to market and sell Zep Solar products in Australia, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.
“The combining of SolarCity and Zep Solar will help our companies execute a shared vision to bring solar power to the masses,” said Mike Miskovsky, CEO of Zep Solar, who will remain in charge of Zep Solar after the close of the acquisition. “We achieved profitability this year and I’m proud of what the Zep Solar team has accomplished in less than four years, and even more excited about how much more we can do in partnership with SolarCity.”
The transaction is structured as an acquisition of all of the outstanding capital stock of Zep Solar through a merger of Zep Solar with a wholly-owned acquisition subsidiary of SolarCity. The actual number of shares of SolarCity common stock to be issued in the transaction will be based on the final purchase price and the volume weighted average price per share of SolarCity common stock for the ten trading day period prior to the completion of the merger. The transaction is expected to be completed in December, subject to customary closing conditions.
