Investor interest in global solar PV industry continues to grow, shows market intelligence firm Mercom Capital Group's Q1 2021 Solar Funding and M&A Report. In Q1/2021, solar attracted $8.1 billion total corporate funding in 36 deals. This is 21% higher compared to Q4/2020 when 43 deals locked in $6.7 billion.
In comparison, in COVID-19 disrupted Q1/2020 global solar PV corporate funding added up to only $1.9 billion, reflecting an annual decline of 31% (see Corp Funding For Solar In Q1/2020 Down 31% YoY In Q1/2020).
"Financing activity in the solar sector started strong in 2021 with Q1 numbers up substantially year-over-year," observed Mercom Capital's CEO Raj Prabhu. "Even though solar stocks lost some of their spark in the first quarter after an unprecedented run in 2020, a big IPO and record securitization activity lifted overall fundraising totals."
The top corporate funded deal in the reporting quarter was $2.2 billion raised by US based electrical balance of system (BOS) solutions provider Shoals Technologies Group through an initial public offering (IPO) (see Shoals Technologies Grew Annual Revenues In 2020 By 21%).
Global venture capital (VC) funding brought in $1 billion in 14 deals, increasing 33% QoQ, of which 96% went to downstream companies. The top VC/private equity (PE) funded company in Q1/2021 was Loanpal having raised $800 million.
Public market financing declined 7% QoQ to $2.8 million in 8 deals, while announced debt financing grew 48% over the same period to $4.3 billion in 14 deals. The largest amount of financing through securitization since 2013 was recorded in the form of 5 deals raising $1.4 billion in Q1 2021.
According to the report, there were 20 merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in Q1/2021, with 15 involving downstream companies, while 82 large scale solar project acquisitions were reported. Total amount of projects acquired during the period added up to 14.6 GW, with most of this capacity was acquired by project developers and independent power producers (IPP), followed by investment firms and funds.
Mercom report also covers geographical share of these acquisitions and places Spain at the top where 5.5 GW capacity exchanged hands, followed by 4.8 GW in the US and 1.6 GW in Greece. France's Total was the top acquirer of solar assets during the period as it acquired 2.2 GW development pipeline in Texas (see Total Digs Deeper In US Solar Space With 2.2 GW Acquisition).
The report can be purchased from Mercom's website for prices starting from $299.