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Tesla Wants To Buy America's Number 1 Solar Panel Maker, Run By Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s SolarCity, a company specialized in making and installing solar panels, has received an acquisition offer from Tesla Motors.
Building with solar panels from SolarCity 1 photo
Photo: SolarCity
You read the lead right, a company that has Elon Musk as its largest shareholder and CEO has been given an offer from another company in which the South-African-born business person has the same role.

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur that also controls SpaceX and Hyperloop, described the deal between Tesla and SolarCity as a “no brainer.”

As Automotive News reports, the deal would allow Musk to sell electric cars, home energy solutions, and solar panels to customers in the USA.  Instead of just delivering a car to them, or a PowerWall battery, or install a solar panel set, Tesla Motors could do all three, if the customer is interested.

Instead of making three trips to a house, you can integrate that into a single visit. It is an obvious thing to do,” Elon Musk explained.

Naturally, each of the businesses involved in the trade proposed above will continue to sell their products separately, if customers desire it.

Tesla Motors has offered to acquire SolarCity through a stock deal that is worth an estimated $2.8 billion. Unfortunately for Tesla, its shares plunged by 13% in value in extended trading, building up to a loss of $4.3 billion. Meanwhile, SolarCity shares rose to 18$ thanks the news, reaching $25.02, a small value when compared to the $189.99 of Tesla Motors stock.

Tesla executives believe the predictable cash flow of SolarCity pays for the company’s debt and liabilities. However, the deal is not seen with confident eyes by all, as the stock price of SolarCity fell almost 60% this year. Investors believed that its business model is too complex for the residential rooftop solar system market, which has become increasingly competitive.

The only surprising part of the deal is that Elon Musk stated that Tesla does not know how many of its customers already have solar panels. Instead, Musk guessed that “most of them” were interested in solar. The company posted a blog about the deal and described the business as a way to expand both companies’ markets. If the deal gets approved, we will see if Musk was right.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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