First Solar & SunPower Yieldco 8point3 Energy Partners Announces IPO

8point3 Energy Partners, a yieldco set up through a joint limited partnership between First Solar and SunPower, has announced its pricing for an initial public offering.

The latest in a number of yieldcos formed by renewable energy companies to own and operate renewable energy assets, 8point3 Energy Partners announced pricing for its initial public offering (IPO) of 20,000,000 Class A shares of $21.00 per share. Set to be listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “CAFD,” 8point3 will begin trading on June 19, 2015.

GoldmanSachs and CitiGroup will act as lead book-running managers, with J.P. Morgan and Credit Agricole acting as joint book-running managers for the IPO.

If all shares are sold the company would be able to raise approximately $420 million, with a further three million shares offered to the underwriters taking the possible total up towards $480 million. The proceeds from the sale will go towards a cash distribution to each of First Solar and SunPower, general corporate purposes, and towards future acquisitions.

The yieldco was primarily responsible for significant Q1’15 revenue decreases for both parent companies, as they held on to projects they normally would have sold.

“As anticipated, the first quarter was a transitional period as we executed on our plans to form 8point3 Energy Partners,” said Jim Hughes, CEO of First Solar, earlier this year.

Both companies saw a decrease in profitability in Q1’15, with First Solar reporting a net loss of $62,292 million in the first quarter of 2015, and SunPower seeing a 36% decrease in its first quarter revenue.