Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, released its funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) report on the solar sector in the second quarter and the first half of 2019. Total corporate funding (including venture capital funding, public market, and debt financing) in the first half (1H) of 2019 was up with $6B (billion) raised compared to the $5.4B raised in 1H 2018, an 11% increase year-over-year (YoY).
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Corporate funding increased in Q2 2019 with $3.3B in 29 deals compared to $2.7B in 35 deals in Q1 2019. Year-over-year funding in Q2 2019 was 12% higher compared to $2.9B in Q2 2018.
Chart: Solar funding 1H 2015-1H 2019
“Financial activity was up in the first half of the year and there is optimism in the global markets, which was reflected by climbing solar stock prices. Demand in Europe has picked up post MIP. The pre-ITC step down and the duty exemption for bifacial modules has also helped increase U.S. demand. Solar activity in India is expected to pick up post elections. However, China remains the wild card,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.
In 1H 2019, Global VC funding (venture capital, private equity, and corporate venture capital) in solar was 50% higher with $799M (million) compared to $531M in 1H 2018.
Top VC/PE deals in 1H 2019 included: $300M by Renew Power, $144M by Avaada Energy, $65M by Yellow Door Energy, $50M by Spruce Finance, $41M by Oxford Photovoltaics, $39M by CleanMax Solar, and $31M by BBOXX.
A total of 62 VC investors participated in funding in 1H 2019.
Chart: Top Solar VC-Funded Companies
Solar public market financing in 1H 2019 was 20% lower than 1H 2018 with $993M in eight deals compared to $1.2B in 12 deals.
Announced debt financing activity in 1H 2019 ($4.2B in 27 deals) was 16% higher compared to 1H 2018 with $3.6B in 32 deals. There were four solar securitization deals in 1H 2019.
In 1H 2019 there were a total of 37 solar M&A transactions compared to 46 transactions in 1H 2018.
Chart: Top Disclosed Solar M&A in 1H 2019
There were 11.6 GW of solar projects acquired in 1H 2019. Investment firms accounted for 6.8 GW (58%) of project acquisitions.
Chart: Solar Project Acquisitions
There were 262 companies and investors in this report. It is 85 pages long and contains 76 charts, graphs, and tables.
About Mercom Capital Group
Mercom Capital Group is a global communications and consulting firm focused on clean energy. Mercom produces funding and market intelligence reports covering Solar and Battery Storage/Smart Grid/Efficiency. Mercom advises cleantech companies on new market entry, custom market intelligence and overall strategic decision-making. http://mercomcapital.com.
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