By Olivia Oran and Nichola Groom
Dec 11 (Reuters) – Solar panel installer SolarCity Corp
has postponed its initial public offering scheduled to
price on Tuesday, according to an underwriter and a market
source.
The San Mateo, California-based company had intended to
price 10.1 million shares at a range of $13 to $15.
It was not immediately clear why SolarCity postponed its
offering. A representative for SolarCity was not immediately
available for comment.
Although the clean technology sector has suffered some high
profile flameouts with bankrupt solar company Solyndra and
battery maker A123 Systems, SolarCity had been considered the
alternative energy industry’s most promising IPO candidate since
electric car company Tesla Motors Inc’s 2010 debut.
Tesla’s founder and chief executive, Elon Musk, is
SolarCity’s chairman and the first cousin of its co-founders,
Lyndon and Peter Rive.
Musk said in a regulatory filing last week that he planned
to buy $15 million of SolarCity stock in the IPO.
Some investors have questioned whether the company deserves
the roughly $1 billion valuation its backers were hoping for,
saying it is difficult to value SolarCity because it has few
direct peers among publicly-traded solar companies.
With that valuation, SolarCity would have been the second
most valuable U.S.-listed solar company, behind First Solar Inc
, which has a market capitalization of more than $2.6
billion.
Companies including Google Inc and U.S. Bancorp
have provided funds to finance SolarCity’s projects.
SolarCity’s venture capital backers include Draper Fisher
Jurvetson, DBL Investors, Mayfield Fund, Shea Ventures and Valor
Equity Partners.
SolarCity’s IPO underwriters include Goldman Sachs, Credit
Suisse and Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch.
The company was scheduled to trade on the Nasdaq on
Wednesday under the ticker “SCTY.”
