Solar Fintech Sunlight Financial Goes Public
Sunlight Financial went public on July 12, through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal that was valued at $1.35 billion.
Sunlight Financial (“Sunlight”), a premier, technology-enabled point-of-sale financing company, announced the closing of its previously-announced business combination (the “Business Combination”) with Spartan Acquisition Corp. II (“Spartan”) (NYSE:SPRQ), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company sponsored by funds managed by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”). The Business Combination was approved yesterday by Spartan’s stockholders.
The combined company is named Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. and on July 12, 2021, its common stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “SUNL”, while its warrants will trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “SUNLW”. Sunlight Financial LLC will be the new public holding company’s sole operating subsidiary and Sunlight’s existing management team will continue to lead the business.
“This is a momentous day for Sunlight and we are excited to accelerate the transition to a clean energy future as a publicly traded company,” said Matt Potere, CEO of Sunlight. “As demand for residential solar and battery storage solutions continues to grow, Sunlight is well-positioned to extend its lead as the point-of-sale technology platform of choice and provide frictionless financing for solar and home improvement customers, contractors and capital providers. We look forward to further scaling our business and executing on our strategic goals to deliver sustainable and profitable growth and create long-term value for our stockholders.”
The Business Combination was funded by a combination of Spartan’s cash-in-trust and $250 million of proceeds from the previously-announced private placement of Spartan’s shares, which was fully committed by a pool of institutional and other accredited investors.
“As a company at the nexus of fintech, solar and ESG, Sunlight has an incredible opportunity to empower more homeowners to embrace clean energy technologies,” said Geoffrey Strong, CEO of Spartan and Senior Partner, Co-head of Infrastructure and Natural Resources at Apollo. “We are excited to work with Matt and the entire Sunlight team as they continue in their mission to provide affordable, responsible financing to accelerate America’s transition to clean energy.”
Citi acted as an exclusive financial advisor to Sunlight. Credit Suisse, Citi and Cowen acted as PIPE placement agents to Spartan. Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP acted as the legal advisor to Sunlight, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. acted as the legal advisor to Spartan, Latham & Watkins LLP acted as the legal advisor to the placement agents, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP advised a transaction committee of the Board of Directors of Spartan.
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