AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - October 4, 2010) - Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, today released third quarter 2010 merger and acquisition (M&A) and funding activity for solar, smart grid and wind. All funding transactions can be downloaded at: http://mercomcapital.com/news.php
"There has been a significant downtrend in venture capital (VC) funding transactions in the solar sector. However, consistent growth in project and other financing in solar is noteworthy as an indication of availability of credit in the market. We also saw an uptick in growth in the value of M&A transactions for the third quarter. VC funding in itself is not the only indicator of financing activity happening throughout the supply chain. To give a clearer picture Mercom also tracks project and other types of funding, such as loans, credit lines and more," commented Raj Prabhu, Managing Partner at Mercom Capital Group.
Disclosed VC Funding transactions for solar came in at $169.35M compared to $922M during Q2. Other funding transactions came in at $20.7B, of which over $20B were credit facilities issued to manufacturers by Chinese banks. Chinese transactions include $8.9B to LDK Solar, $4.4B to JA Solar Holdings, $5.3B to Yingli Green Energy and $1.9B to Solarfun. Other significant transactions included $65M to Solaria and $21.5M to SolarCity.
At $585.65M, there was a surge in solar M&A activity during Q3 compared to $298M in Q2. Out of 12 M&A transactions in Q3, eight were disclosed compared to the second quarter where only two were disclosed. A significant M&A transaction in the sector included the acquisition of Recurrent Energy by Sharp for $305 million.
There was a decrease in funding and M&A activity for Smart Grid in Q3. Total disclosed investments came in at $187.25M for nine transactions. Out of nine M&A transactions only one was disclosed of $20M.
Wind had a good Q3 with VC investment coming in at $102M for three deals. Project and other funding investments came in at $3.6B for 17 transactions out of a total of 20. Out of nine M&A transactions, three were disclosed for a total of $922M.
About Mercom Capital Group
Mercom Capital Group is a clean energy communications and consulting firm with offices in the US and India. Mercom's communications division helps clean energy companies build powerful relationships with media, analysts, government decision-makers, local communities and strategic partners. Mercom's consulting division advises clean energy companies on new market entry, custom market intelligence and strategic decision-making. Mercom delivers highly respected market intelligence reports covering Solar Energy, Wind Energy and Smart Grid; providing timely industry happenings and ahead-of-the-curve analysis specifically for C-level decision making. For more information about Mercom, visit: http://www.mercomcapital.com. To get a copy of Mercom's popular market intelligence reports, visit: http://mercomcapital.com/market_intelligence.php.
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