Vivint Solar Secures $325 mn Credit Facility

Vivint Solar has closed a $325 million revolving warehouse credit facility, which refinanced the aggregation credit facility that was set to mature in 2020.

Vivint Solar, Inc a leading full-service residential solar provider, has announced that it has closed a $325 million revolving warehouse credit facility, which refinanced the aggregation credit facility that was set to mature in 2020.

The new warehouse reduces the cost of debt by 87.5 basis points and materially increases the amount of upfront proceeds as a percentage of future contractual cash flows. Five lenders are involved in the deal, which includes an accordion feature that provides the ability for VSLR to upsize the facility to $400 million.

The lenders include Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, CitiBank, affiliates of Credit Suisse, KeyBank and Silicon Valley Bank.

“This transaction represents a meaningful improvement in our ability to access debt funding at a higher advance rate, at a lower cost, and earlier in the lifecycle of our assets. Higher advance rates and earlier funding reduces the need for working capital in the business and brings our funding more in line with when we incur creation costs,” said Thomas Plagemann, CCO and Head of Capital Markets.

“This new financing is part of our plan to continuously reduce our cost of business and provide inexpensive and clean energy solutions for our customers,” said David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar. “The ongoing commitment from our lenders and the competitive terms of this warehouse facility reflect their trust in Vivint Solar’s financial strength and market momentum.”

Vivint Solar operates in 23 states and has raised more than $4.9 billion in cash equity, tax equity and debt since its inception in 2011.

In June, we reported that the firm has received commitments for an additional $100 million of tax equity financing, which will enable it to install more than 55 megawatts (MW) of residential solar energy systems.

The syndicated tax equity commitment comes from RBC Capital Markets and co-investors arranged by RBC’s Tax Credit Equity Group. The investment commitment is expected to allow the Utah-based company to design and build low-cost, clean energy systems for over 8,000 new residential customers.