Funding and M&A Roundup: Canadian Solar Issues €30 Million Green Bond

From: Mercom Capital Group
Canadian Solar, a vertically integrated manufacturer of silicon ingots, wafers, and PV cells and modules, announced that Canadian Solar EMEA Capital Markets, an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, has completed a €30 million (~$33.9 million) green bond issuance due on December 2026 under its €100 million (~$113.05 million) Canadian Solar EMEA Green Medium Term Note Program in the Spanish multilateral trading facility (MTF) for debt securities (MARF). The company guarantees the notes and qualifies as green bonds pursuant to the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles and the Green Financing Frameworkdec. With the green bond proceeds, Canadian Solar aims to support the growth, development, and construction of its solar PV and battery storage portfolio in EMEA, currently at 4.6 GW and 2 GWh, respectively.
Equinor, an energy company specializing in providing oil, gas, wind energy, and solar power energy, has signed an agreement with Noriker Power Limited, a battery storage developer in the U.K., focusing on the engineering and project development of utility-scale storage and stability services. The agreement includes the acquisition of a 45% stake in Noriker, with an option to acquire the entire company later. In addition to the equity investment, Equinor and Noriker have agreed on strategic cooperation, which will grant Equinor the opportunity to participate in projects being matured by Noriker directly.
Milbank advised the lenders in relation to the green loan to finance the $736 million acquisition of Norwegian-headquartered solar panel maker REC Solar by Reliance New Energy Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited. REC Solar Holdings was acquired from China National Bluestar, the specialty chemicals and materials company. The acquisition of REC Solar adds significant solar capacity for Reliance Industries. It seeks to become net carbon zero by 2035, making India a hub for a low-cost solar manufacturer. The transaction also accelerates Reliance Industries’ expansion in Australia, Europe, the United States, and more widely in Asia.
Australia-based 5B announced it would acquire IXL Solar’s manufacturing business in Adelaide, Australia, to accelerate its mission to deploy massive scale, ultra-low-cost solar power globally. IXL Solar has been a manufacturing partner of 5B for its 5B Maverick solution since 2018. Twenty manufacturing specialists and staff will join 5B as part of the acquisition and expand 5B’s presence to include IXL Solar’s facility in Adelaide.
Logical Buildings, a sustainability, smart building, and virtual power plant (VPP) software and solutions provider, closed a $10 million funding round led by Keyframe Capital. The funds will facilitate a national rollout of Logical Buildings’ VPP software, allowing real estate owners and managers to fulfill increasingly stringent Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements. GridRewards integrates with utility smart meters, thermostats, and energy/carbon markets, turning residential and small business customers into grid-interactive, efficient consumers instantly, fundamentally improving how the energy market functions.
Solid Power, a developer of all-solid-state battery cells for electric vehicles, announced the completion of its business combination following a special meeting of Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation III’s (DCRC) stockholders. The combined company will retain the Solid Power name, and its common stock and warrants are expected to commence trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbols “SLDP” and “SLDPW,” respectively. Solid Power received gross proceeds from the transaction of $542.9 million from its fully committed $195 million PIPE and the receipt of $347.9 million of cash from DCRC’s trust account net of redemptions.
Ameresco, a cleantech integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, announced that it had acquired Plug Smart, an Ohio-based energy services company specializing in developing and implementing budget-neutral capital improvement projects, including building controls and building automation systems. With this acquisition, Ameresco expands its existing pipeline and solution offerings in the smart buildings sector.
ReneSola, a fully integrated solar project developer, announced that its board of directors had authorized the repurchase of up to $50 million of its outstanding American Depositary Shares (ADS). The authorization is effective immediately and has no expiration. As of this date, the company had approximately 70 million ADS outstanding.
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved $500 million of debt financing to First Solar to set up a 3.3 GW vertically integrated solar module manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, India. With this investment, DFC aims to diversify solar supply chains. It said its investment promotes the commitment of the U.S. to tackle climate change at home and abroad. The investment also supports India’s ambitious energy targets.
For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.
Read last week’s funding roundup.