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AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Oct 8, 2014) - Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, released its report on third quarterly funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the solar sector in 2014.

Total global corporate funding in the solar sector, including venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), debt financing, and public market financing, jumped to $9.8 billion (B), compared to $6.3B in Q2 2014. This quarter also saw the third yieldco IPO so far this year, the $577 million (M) IPO of TerraForm Power, a yieldco subsidiary of SunEdison.

Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, commented, "Financing activity was strong all around this quarter whether you look at VC, debt or public markets, and it was the best fundraising quarter since Q1 2011. VC funding in solar has now crossed $1B in the first three quarters this year."

Global VC/PE funding in Q3 2014 totaled $326M in 21 deals, down from $452M in 22 deals in Q2 2014. Like the previous quarter, solar downstream companies attracted most of the VC funding in Q3, with $205M in 11 deals.

Chart: Solar VC Funding Q3 2014

The largest VC/PE deal in Q3 2014 was the $110M raise by Sunnova Energy, a provider of residential solar service to homeowners through its network of local installation partners offering leases and PPAs. Glasspoint Solar, a provider of solar steam generators to the oil and gas industry for applications such as Enhanced Oil Recovery, raised $53M. Other Top 5 deals included the $40M raised by PosiGen, a US-based provider of solar lease, purchasing and energy efficiency upgrades, followed by Solexel, a developer of crystalline silicon solar cells and modules, which raised $31M. Ygrene Energy Fund, a provider of residential and commercial property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, raised $30M.

Public market financing in Q3 totaled $987M including one IPO compared to $1.3B in Q2. This quarter also saw strong debt financing activity dominated by Chinese deals totaling $8.5B compared to $4.6B in Q2.

There were 35 large-scale project funding deals totaling $3.7B announced in Q3 2014.

Chart: Solar Top 5 Large-scale Projects Funded by Dollar Amount in Q3-2014

Third-party residential and commercial solar funds witnessed a decline in Q3, with only $590M raised, compared to $1.3B in Q2, but on par with Q3 of last year.

There were 32 corporate M&A transactions in the solar sector in Q3, up from 25 transactions in Q2 2014. Solar downstream companies accounted for most of the M&A transactions with 18.

Project acquisitions in Q3 2014 totaled $582M in 38 transactions with 1.2 GW changing hands.

Mercom also tracked 175 new large-scale project announcements in various stages of development worldwide in Q3 2014 representing 10.3 GW.

Chart: Top 5 Solar Project Acquisitions by Dollar Amount in Q3 2014

To learn more about the report, visit: https://store.mercom.mercomcapital.com/product/q3-2014-solar-funding-and-ma-report/

About Mercom Capital Group
Mercom Capital Group, llc, is a global communications and research and consulting firm focused exclusively on clean energy and financial communications. Mercom delivers widely read industry funding and market intelligence reports covering Solar Energy, Wind Energy and Smart Grid. Mercom's consulting division advises cleantech companies on new market entry, custom market intelligence and overall strategic decision-making. Mercom's communications division helps clean energy companies and financial institutions build powerful relationships with media, analysts, government decision-makers, local communities and strategic partners. For more information about Mercom Capital Group, visit: https://www.mercomcapital.com. To get a copy of Mercom's popular market intelligence reports, visit: https://mercomcapital.com/market_intelligence.php