SolarCity, Tesla make things official and merge to focus on solar+storage

Are you sitting down? SolarCity and Tesla will be joining forces to ramp up efforts on a big-time solar-plus-storage rollout in the U.S. The announcement was only a matter of time and makes a ton of sense for both companies.

Here is the official word from Tesla’s blog:

Now is the right time to bring our two companies together: Tesla is getting ready to scale our Powerwall and Powerpack stationary storage products and SolarCity is getting ready to offer next-generation differentiated solar solutions. By joining forces, we can operate more efficiently and fully integrate our products, while providing customers with an aesthetically beautiful and simple one-stop solar + storage experience: one installation, one service contract, one phone app.

We expect to achieve cost synergies of $150 million in the first full year after closing. We also expect to save customers money by lowering hardware costs, reducing installation costs, improving our manufacturing efficiency and reducing our customer acquisition costs. We will also be able to leverage Tesla’s 190-store retail network and international presence to extend our combined reach.

Here are some key terms of today’s announcement: this is an all-stock transaction with an equity value of $2.6 billion based on the 5-day volume-weighted average price of Tesla shares as of July 29, 2016. Under the agreement, SolarCity stockholders will receive 0.110 Tesla common shares per SolarCity share, valuing SolarCity common stock at $25.37 per share based on the 5-day volume weighted average price of Tesla shares as of July 29, 2016.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/batteries/solarcity-tesla-make-things-official-merge-focus-solarstorage/]