Mercom Capital Group: Total Corporate Funding for Solar Sector Surges to $13.5 Billion in 1H 2021
Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, released its report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the solar sector in the second quarter (Q2) and the first half (1H) of 2021.
Total corporate funding (including venture capital (VC) funding, public market, and debt financing) in 1H of 2021 came to $13.5 billion compared to $4.6 billion in 1H 2020, a 193% year-over-year (YoY) increase.
"Funding was up across the board in the first half of 2021 compared to last year, which was severely affected by the pandemic. Corporate M&A activity was up significantly with solar developers expanding their pipelines, oil and gas companies diversifying into renewables, and funds buying up renewable assets. Solar project acquisitions reached a record high in Q2," said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group. "The transition from fossil fuels to renewables and ESG investing trends made an impact on financing as well as M&A activity."
Get the report: http://bit.ly/MercomSolarQ22021
CHART: Solar Corporate Funding 1H 2017 ? 1H 2021
In 1H 2021, VC funding was 680% higher, with $1.6 billion raised in 26 deals compared to $210 million in 14 deals 1H 2020. The increase in VC funding activity resulted from some large transactions, including Loanpal's $800 million deal in the first quarter of 2021.
CHART: Solar Top VC Funded Companies in 1H 2021
A total of 85 VC investors participated in solar funding in 1H 2021.
Solar public market financing in 1H 2021 was 386% higher, with $3.7 billion raised in 13 deals compared to $758 million raised in six deals in 1H 2020. Shoals Technologies Group's $2.2 billion IPO was a big part of the increase in public market financing activity in 1H 2021.
Announced debt financing activity in 1H 2021 ($8.2 billion in 32 deals) was 125% higher compared to the first half of 2020, when $3.7 billion went into 17 deals. Spurred by low interest rates, a record $2 billion was raised through seven securitization deals in 1H 2021. Cumulatively, over $9 billion has been raised through securitization deals since 2013.
In 1H 2021 there were 54 solar corporate M&A transactions compared to 25 in 1H 2020.
CHART: Solar Top Disclosed M&A Transactions in 1H 2021
There were 34 solar corporate M&A transactions in Q2 2021 compared to 20 in Q1 2021 and 13 transactions in Q2 2020.
CHART: Solar Project Acquirer Mix (%) 1H 2021
Solar project acquisitions in 1H 2021 reached 39.3 GW compared to 14.7 GW in 1H 2020.
Project acquisition activity was at a record high in Q2 2021, with over 24 GW of solar projects acquired compared to 14.6 GW in Q1 2021.
CHART: Solar Project Acquisition Q2 2020 - Q2 2021 (By GW)
There were 376 companies and investors covered in this report. It is 96 pages in length and contains 83 charts, graphs, and tables.
To learn more about the report, visit: http://bit.ly/MercomSolarQ22021
About Mercom Capital Group
Mercom Capital Group is a global communications and consulting firm focused on clean energy. Mercom produces funding and market intelligence reports covering Solar and Battery Storage/Smart Grid/Efficiency. Mercom advises cleantech companies on new market entry, custom market intelligence and strategic decision-making. https://www.mercomcapital.com
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