Just eight months after Total S.A. acquired EDF Energies Nouvelles Réparties’ (EDF ENR) shares in its PV company Tenesol, the French oil giant has relinquished its stake to SunPower Corp.
Tenesol, with solar panel manufacturing facilities in France and South Africa, markets and installs PV roof systems for individuals and businesses across Europe. The company was created in 1983 and jointly owned by EDF ENR and Total, but the April agreement had Total taking full control of Tenesol.
Under the latest agreement, SunPower will acquire Tenesol for $165.4 million while Total will purchase 18.6 million shares of SunPower’s common stock in a private placement at $8.80 per share. After the sale of Tenesol, Total will own approximately 66% of SunPower’s common shares. The transaction has been approved by an independent committee of SunPower’s board of directors and is expected to close early in 2012 following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
"Our acquisition of Tenesol is another step toward differentiating ourselves in the competitive solar market, further expanding our downstream presence and benefiting from the strong backing of Total," said Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO. "We said on day one that the partnership with Total would provide strength to our balance sheet, access to new markets and investment in research and development. In six short months, we have seen these benefits accrue to SunPower."
"Combining the activities of Tenesol with SunPower is a step forward in Total’s strategy to become a world player in the promising solar industry," said Philippe Boisseau, president, Total Gas and Power Division. "SunPower brings the world’s highest efficiency, highest reliability technology to market with guaranteed performance. Tenesol’s well-established channels, manufacturing base and complementary global footprint will help expand SunPower’s market reach and accelerate its share gain during market consolidation."
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