Daily Management Review

Elon Musk and cousins to buy up 80% of SolarCity


08/24/2016


Elon Musk and his cousins will buy 80% of issued SolarCity bonds worth $ 65 million and $ 17.5, respectively, of the total emission of $ 124 million, it follows from the company’s paper presented to the SEC.



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BrokenSphere
Musk himself will buy back bonds in the amount of $ 65 - $ 124 million. The company’s CEO Lyndon Rive and its technical director Peter Rive, cousins of Tesla Motors’ Head, will acquire $ 17.5 million in bonds.

Apparently, Musk is directly buying bonds of SolarCity for the first time buy. Previously, he did this through his company SpaceX, Reuters notes.

Recall, an announcement that Tesla buys SolarCity for $ 2.6 billion was made on August 1. The acquisition of SolarCity will allow Tesla to offer clients to use solar energy to charge their cars. In addition to electric vehicles, Tesla is stepping up production of household batteries, which are commonly used in conjunction with solar panels to provide electricity to private homes. SolarCity will be able to use Powerwall and Powerpack in their systems. Elon Musk convinced that the majority of Tesla customers have an interest in solar electricity.

Tesla’s shareholders are unhappy that the automaker gets distracted with non-core assets. Annexation of SolarCity will change the very concept of Tesla. It will turn the automaker, which is now strugggling to keep up with demand for electric cars, in "all in one" shops for consumer products, running on clean energy.

Investors of SolarCity are not thrilled with the deal either. They consider that the proposed price is too low. Alternative energy is becoming cheaper, which gives a reason to believe SolarCity has been undervalued. Analysts of Bloomberg New Energy Finance published a forecast according to which solar panels will gain popularity as the cheapest source of electricity in many countries over the next 15 years. Apparently, solar energy service providers, such as SolarCity Corporation, are going to win from this.

Tesla Motors recently introduced a new battery for electric Tesla X and Tesla S, which is meant to increase the mileage and speed acceleration. The chemical composition of the battery remains the same. Its configuration, however, has been changed, which increased the capacity from 85 kWh to 100 kWh. 

source: bloomberg.com