A US bankruptcy court judge has approved the stalking horse bid of residential solar provider SunPower assets, according to a report from Reuters.
It comes a few weeks after SunPower filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and entered into an asset purchase agreement (APA) with residential solar company Complete Solaria.
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A stalking horse buyer is a company nominated by a company filing for bankruptcy to make an initial bid for its assets, to set a benchmark for other potential buyers to make bids.
A report from news outlet Reuters highlighted that a deadline for additional bids was set for Tuesday 10 September 2024. An auction would be held on September 16 if necessary, while a sale objection deadline was set to September 20.
According to Reuters, solar manufacturer Maxeon – which spun off from SunPower in 2020 – objected to the stalking horse bidding rules, stating that the company owned the rights to SunPower’s trademarks outside the US, however the objection was overruled.
When SunPower filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the sale of the assets was set at US$45 million and included SunPower’s Blue Raven Solar business, New Homes business and non-installing Dealer network.
SunPower aims to continue a sale process for its remaining assets and effectuate any resulting sale transactions pursuant to Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
SunPower Chapter 11 announcement in early August came less than a month after investment bank Roth Capital published a letter from SunPower—obtained from industry contacts—saying that the company had stopped several operations, including new shipments and financing options.
In a statement to PV Tech, a Maxeon spokesperson emphasised that the bankruptcy court had not approved the sale of Sunpower assets on August 29, rather the marketing, bid solicitation and auction process. “Maxeon owns the rights and continues its use of the SunPower brand for its solar panels and solar energy ecosystem products sold outside of the United States. The Court is aware of our concerns and has made it clear -on the record- that our ability to object to any proposed sale is fully reserved.
“Maxeon firmly believes the SunPower trademarks cannot be sold without our consent, and the sale will not go forward if the Court agrees. When Maxeon spun off in 2020 as a separate company, we entered into a brand framework agreement that specified how the SunPower brand could be used in and outside the US,” says a Maxeon spokesperson, adding that the brand framework agreement prohibits the sale of SunPower trademarks without Maxeon’s consent.
Updated on 02 September 2024: This article was updated to include a Maxeon spokesperson’s comment.
