SunEdison And TerraForm Close First Wind Acquisition Deal

January 30th, 2015 by Joshua S Hill

American solar giant SunEdison announced in November of 2014 that it, together with its yield-co subsidiary, TerraForm, would be acquiring energy company First Wind in a deal worth $2.4 billion, which would see SunEdison become the world’s largest renewable energy development company.

Earlier this month SunEdison and TerraForm announced that they had raised $590 million towards the acquisition, and now, as of Thursday the 29th, the two companies have announced the completion of the acquisition.

The transaction sees TerraForm — SunEdison’s business dedicated to owning and operating solar farms, and which was made public in mid-2014 — purchase 500 MW of operating wind power plants and 21 MW of operating solar power plants from First Wind. SunEdison, on the other hand, purchased the equity interests of First Wind and certain of its subsidiaries — “thereby acquiring a leading wind development and asset management platform.”

“With the acquisition of First Wind, SunEdison becomes the leading renewable energy developer in the world,” said Ahmad Chatila, President and Chief Executive Officer of SunEdison. “This acquisition enhances SunEdison’s global offering and adds a talented wind development and asset management team. By combining SunEdison’s leading solar development platform with First Wind’s platform, SunEdison is well positioned to drive significant growth in global renewable energy markets, and deliver immediate shareholder value.”

“This transformative transaction increases our scale and further establishes TerraForm Power’s leadership in renewable energy,” said Carlos Domenech, President and Chief Executive Officer of TerraForm Power. “It diversifies our portfolio to include contracted wind assets, increases our drop down inventory by 93% to 3.3 GW, and demonstrates our ability to acquire large high-quality, long-term, contracted portfolios from third parties. Backed by SunEdison and First Wind’s development and service capabilities, we are well positioned to execute on our growth trajectory while creating significant value for investors.”

As I discussed at the time of the original announcement, First Wind is a good buy for SunEdison — especially as it feeds its yield-co, TerraForm, with new projects to help the fledgling company continue to grow and return solid revenue.

“We are excited to become part of the SunEdison team,” said Paul Gaynor, Chief Executive Officer of First Wind, in November. “This new strategic organization will allow us to join with SunEdison to develop and invest in new, long-term-contracted, well-sited and well-run renewable energy projects that deliver clean energy to homes and businesses across the country and internationally. We will be able to leverage our strength in development and operations, proven during the completion of 1.5 GW of wind projects over eight years, with two world-class companies.”









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