Tuesday, April 6, 2010

"The Daily Start-Up: Auditor Questions Solyndra’s Viability" (Going Concern Warning) GS; FSLR

No wonder Solyndra investors Goldman Sachs and the estate of Wal*Mart heir John Walton pursued that $535,000,000 loan guaranatee from the U.S. taxpayer.
From VentureBeat's GreenBeat:

Audit dims Solyndra’s IPO ambitions

Following its loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, solar module maker Solyndra has been facing a battery of audits. Sounds like simple due diligence, but now auditors have called attention to the Fremont, Calif. company’s avalanche of debt and regular losses — findings that could actually dash its hopes for a $300 million public sale.

Solyndra has become the solar company to watch ever since it nabbed that $535 million loan guarantee from the Energy Department. Filing for an IPO in late December was just the next step to claim its title as one of the most promising players to watch, up there with First Solar and SunPower, both of which have gone public.

But if PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company’s audit firm, has anything to say about it, Solyndra may have to backtrack. It just added an addendum to the S-1 pointing out massive losses and negative cash flow since the company’s founding, as well as mounting debt that could bury operations within a year. The audit evaluated finances between inception and Jan. 2, 2010.

The company has not publicly acknowledged these findings, remaining in a quiet period until the public offering sinks or swims. But this isn’t necessarily a fatal blow for Solyndra. This type of “concern notice” isn’t rare for startups — a lot of successful IPOs have had them included in S-1 filings. And beyond that, A123Systems achieved a blockbuster IPO even though it’s never broken out of the red....MORE

The headline was lifted from the WSJ's Venture Capital Dispatch who gets the HT.

Here's the headline from their sister publication VentureWire:

Solar Panel Co. Solyndra Gets Going-Concern Warning As Losses Mount

Previously:
Was Solyndra the Reason Goldman Sachs Threw First Solar Under the Bus? (FSLR; GS; SPWRA)

What is Solyndra’s Cost Per Watt? (SOLY; FSLR; TSL)
First Solar Snags Rival Solyndra’s Top Scientist (FSLR)

Goldman Sachs and the Solar Land Rush (FSLR; GS)

Solyndra’s backlog passes US$2 billion as new sales agreement signed (GS)