Solyndra pulls IPO, raises $175M in private capital (Silicon Valley)

Solyndra Inc. said Thursday night that it has raised $175 million in a private placement from existing investors and pulled its plans for a $300 million initial public offering.

"Given the ongoing uncertainties in the public capital markets, we elected to pursue alternative funding from our existing investor base. This funding allows us to address strong customer demand by maintaining our aggressive growth plans," said CEO Chris Gronet.

The company said it expects first production from its Fab 2 manufacturing complex to occur in the fourth quarter of 2010, about two months ahead of schedule.

"Fab 2 can't come on line a minute too soon," said Gronet. "We've now sold over 300,000 panels for deployment on commercial rooftop sites in a dozen countries. By the fourth quarter of 2011, we expect our annualized production to exceed 300 megawatts, enabling economies of scale that will substantially reduce our manufacturing costs."

After the Fremont-based solar panel maker announced its IPO plans in December, an auditor's report said that Solyndra's mounting debts and continuing losses raised doubts about its ability to survive. At the time company officials said this wasn't an unusual warning for a startup ahead of a public offering.

The decision to abandon the IPO comes just three weeks after President Barack Obama toured the plant and held Solyndra and Palo Alto electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. up as shining examples of efforts to promote alternative energy in Silicon Valley and the U.S.

Read the full story in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.