Solar Systems Maker BrightSource Picks Nasdaq For IPO

By Christopher Zinsli

Of DOW JONES VENTUREWIRE

BrightSource Energy Inc. has applied for a listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, but the solar systems developer hasn't settled on a ticker symbol, according to the company's amended prospectus filed with regulators Thursday.

The Oakland, Calif.-based company filed in April to sell up to $250 million in common stock.

BrightSource makes systems for utility-scale solar electric power plants using concentrating mirrors. Its massive Ivanpah project in the Mojave Desert, which entered construction last October, is supported by a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.

The company also has raised a considerable amount of private capital, including $356.4 million from investors as of the end of last year. It added another $200 million in Series E funding earlier this year, then Google Inc. provided $168 million more in April.

VantagePoint Capital Partners is BrightSource's largest shareholder, controlling 24.9% of its shares. Alstom Power Inc. holds a 17.8% stake, while Morgan Stanley has 10.5%, Los Angeles Advisory Services Inc. owns 7.5% and Draper Fisher Jurvetson manages 6.7%.

Other investors have included BP Technology Ventures, Black River Asset Management, California State Teachers Retirement System, Chevron Technology Ventures, DBL Investors and StatoilHydro, VentureWire records show.

BrightSource's chairman, John E. Bryson, was nominated by President Barack Obama last month to be the next Secretary of Commerce. The company said Thursday it will appoint a new chairman and director if Bryson is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

(This story was also published in Dow Jones VentureWire, a daily publication that covers news about start-ups and venture capital.)

-By Christopher Zinsli, Dow Jones VentureWire; 212-416-2034; [e-mail]