Solar Trust of America
Sale of up to 500 MW Palen Solar Power Project to:
Brightsource Energy
Solar Trust of America filed for bankruptcy April, 2012. Marathon Capital was hired by the unsecured creditors committee to represent their interests in the bankruptcy proceeding. Marathon analyzed both the sites for the 500 MW Palen Project and the 1,000MW Blythe Solar Project to determine how the unsecured creditors could retain the upside equity value from the potential further development of those sites after securing power purchase agreements, interconnect and site permitting.
Marathon Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to Solar Trust of America.
Marathon Capital led a parallel negotiation among several parties, supported by cover bids for the various projects, in order to determine the optimal payout combination of upfront cash considerations, plus upside earn out – assuming the projects were able to secure a PPA under new ownership, and therefore lead to the building and installation of capacity. Marathon concluded the negotiations real-time in an arbitration proceeding under the direction of the bankruptcy court, leading to a reasonable settlement of all the parties. The transaction resulted in Brightsource purchasing the 500MW Palen Project, and NextEra Energy purchasing the 1,000MW Bythe Solar Project.