Vivint Solar pockets USD 330m from New York IPO

Oct 1, 2014 - US solar system installer Vivint Solar (NYSE:VSLR) on Wednesday priced its initial public offering (IPO) in New York at USD 16.00 (EUR 12.7) per share, raising USD 329.6 million.

According to regulatory filings, the firm, which is controlled by US investor The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE:BX), sold 20.6 million of shares. The offering price was at the low end of the previously announced range of USD 16-18 per share.

The solar system installed will allocate the raised proceeds to pay down debt owed to Blackstone and for working capital needs. At the end of June, the firm had about USD 78.3 million in long-term debt on a pro forma basis.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), BofA Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as joint book-running managers of the placement. Following the deal, Blackstone will continue to be Vivint Solar’s largest shareholder with a 78% interest.

Utah-based Vivint Solar designs, installs and monitors residential solar systems at no upfront cost to the homeowner and sells the plants’ output for less than existing retail power rates under 20-year contracts. At present, the firm operates in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. Its parent Vivint was acquired by Blackstone near the end of 2012 for more than USD 2 billion.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.792)

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