US-based solar company Solyndra, which was backed by Virgin Green, a corporate venturing affiliate of UK conglomerate Virgin Group, revealed it has $783.8m of secured debt to pay back to lenders.
The bankruptcy protection filing by Solyndra, which came out yesterday, detailed the amount of money the solar company raised in its history as well as what it intended to do now.
The company was looking for a buyer to acquire most of Solyndra’s assets, according to the filing sourced from Chapter 11 library, but it might pursue a liquidation. The filing estimated there would be no funds available for unsecured creditors.
Virgin Green was listed among the 35 largest unsecured creditors of the business. The largest investors in the company were venture firms Argonaut Ventures (39%), Madrone Partners (13%), US Venture Partners (9.2%); and Rockport Capital Partners (7.3%), the filing said.
The business has raised close to $1.7bn in debt and equity in its history. The amount invested in Solyndra is thought to have made it the biggest venture loss in history, according to news provider Fortune, which cited Thomson Reuters data. It raised $709.4m in venture financing between May 2006 and February 2009, according to the filing. It subsequently received a $535m Department of Energy Loan Guarantee from the US Federal Financing Bank, while venture investors invested a further $198m to secure the loan. In July 2010, Solyndra issued $175m of convertible promissory notes to various investors.
The company then restructured in February 2011, raising an additional $75m, which left in place its present $783.8m debt load.
The filing came after Solyndra held talks to secure bridge financing from the US Department of Energy and other backers in late August, but these fell through on August 30. The filing said Solyndra had sold more than 500,000 panels and generated sales of $250m since 2008.