U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein recently approved SunEdison's proposed sale of $144 million of solar and wind assets to NRG Energy. The sale continues SunEd's string of dispositions this year following its April bankruptcy filing. The company's stunning descent has followed an equally aggressive rise over the preceding three years. According to The Wall Street Journal, citing its filing, the company "...spent more than $18 billion on acquisitions and raised $24 billion in debt and equity between 2013 and 2016." While it's acquisition strategy was highly aggressive, many point to two deals which did not occur - the proposed acquisitions of Vivant and Latin America Power - as the final straws in a failed strategy.
SunEdison, one of the "old-line" companies in the solar surge of the past decade, will undoubtedly serve as a cautionary tale to many. While the company bears the name of the Jigar Shah-founded pioneer in power purchase agreements, it's DNA runs much deeper; MEMC, the company that acquired Shah's company in 2009, was formerly an arm of Monsanto Company with history stretching to the 1950's. Whether fairly or not, companies will likely consider the current woes of this former powerhouse before undertaking similarly acquisitive strategies in the future.
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