SolarCity Raises $345 Million for New Solar Projects

Solar power provider SolarCity Corp. said Monday it had raised $345 million to fund new solar projects.

The financing, which came from four partners in June and July, will cover the capital cost of new equipment and installations.

In addition to the new funds, the company also added $110 million and two new lenders to its debt facility, which is now is $760 million. SolarCity also expanded its solar renewable energy credit financing facility to accept five years of hedged facilities in a move the company said will significantly lower its cost of financing and to draw more capital from it.

Last month SolarCity formed a special committee to evaluate an acquisition offer made by Tesla Motors Inc., addressing potential conflicts with directors with overlapping interests in the companies. Tesla made an all-stock offer to purchase SolarCity for up to $2.8 billion.

Tesla and SolarCity have numerous overlapping interests on their boards. Elon Musk is the largest shareholder in both firms, with more than 20% holdings in each, and he is chairman of both companies. His cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive are the founders of SolarCity, and both sit on the SolarCity board. In addition, Tesla's co-founder JB Straubel is on SolarCity's board and investor Antonio Gracias sits on the board of both companies.

SolarCity shares fell 1.4% to $24.70 in premarket trading.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 18, 2016 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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