Marathon Capital Announces the Sale of SoCore Energy to ENGIE North America
Marathon Capital serves as the Exclusive Financial Advisor on the sale of Edison International’s portfolio company, SoCore Energy LLC
Background
- Following a comprehensive strategic review, Edison International (NYSE:EIX), the owner of SoCore Energy LLC, engaged Marathon Capital in July 2017
to pursue strategic alternatives for the portfolio company. - SoCore Energy LLC (“SoCore”), headquartered in Chicago, IL, is a fully-integrated developer, owner and operator of commercial and industrial (“C&I”), utility-scale Co-Op and community solar projects with a national footprint.
- SoCore’s operating portfolio comprises 150 MW of solar PV systems with an average PPA contracted life of 21 years
- The development pipeline includes 170 MW of solar projects in late-stage development, as well as projects combining battery storage elements
Marathon Capital Process
- Marathon Capital commenced a detailed marketing process in August 2017 emphasizing the national footprint of the developer, strong relationships with
Fortune 500 clients and the ability to perform multi-site rollouts in a highly efficient manner. - The process generated strong demand from a combination of both strategic and financial investors interested in acquiring the entire platform.
- High quality operating and under-construction projects resulted in a cost-of-capital that was attractively priced and commensurate with the
discount rate expected on a fully-contracted utility-scale solar portfolio - Platform consideration was structured as an all-cash upfront payment emphasizing investors who saw meaningful value in the pipeline and the
strength of the full scale platform that had been assembled through substantial investment in people, systems and repeatable processes
- High quality operating and under-construction projects resulted in a cost-of-capital that was attractively priced and commensurate with the
- Careful navigation of a choppy market was essential as two noteworthy events, namely the comprehensive tax reform bill and the Suniva 201 trade case
took place during the final binding bids phase. As a testament to the strength of the SoCore value proposition and the conviction of the buyers,
multiple fully binding bids were produced.
Outcome
- The process led to a successful signing of definite documents for the sale of the entire Company on March 1, 2018, approximately six months following
the launch of the process.
- SoCore fits well within the ENGIE North America Inc. (“ENGIE”) family of companies and will be a key piece of ENGIE’s solution set for current and future customers. ENGIE intends to retain SoCore personnel.