September 9, 2015

By William Pentland

SunEdison, the world's largest renewable energy development company based in St. Louis, Missouri, is buying a 33% stake in a portfolio of solar projects owned by Dominion Resources, a public utility holding company based in Richmond, Virginia, for roughly $300 million.

Credit: Tverdohlib

The deal, which was announced on Monday, includes 24 projects located in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee and Utah. Under the terms of the agreement, SunEdison also has an option to purchase the remaining two thirds ownership stake in Dominion's solar portfolio.

"Our focus is shifting from constructing contracted solar to constructing utility solar in Virginia, where we expect to develop 400 megawatts of generating capacity by 2020," said Dominion's Chief Executive Officer Thomas Farrell.

Dominion operates electric utilities in parts of Virginia and North Carolina and supplies natural gas to parts of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and eastern North Carolina. Dominion also has generation facilities in Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

SunEdison said it would use a new fund established between SunEdison and an investor group advised by a unit of J.P. Morgan Chase to pay for the acquisition of the 33% ownership stake in Dominion's portfolio of solar projects. In addition to financing the acquisition of operating assets, the new renewable energy investment fund will be used to purchase renewable energy projects under construction.

Over the past year, SunEdison has secured several financing vehicles, including warehouse facilities and preferred convertible equity, to support growth.

For more:
- see this article

© 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex, LLC. All rights reserved.

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/solar-takeover-dominions-shift-utility-solar/2015-09-09