NEW YORK - Solyndra Corp., a solar panel maker that got a $535 million federal loan guarantee in March to build a factory, filed yesterday for a $300 million initial public stock offering.
The start-up, based in Fremont, Calif., disclosed its plans in a regulatory filing after the stock market closed. The company is the 12th venture capital-backed company to file for an offering since Oct. 28, after the slowest two-year period for such deals in 30 years.
Solyndra’s deal may show how government clean energy grants and loans stimulate private investment, said Matt Therian, an analyst at Renaissance Capital in Greenwich, Conn. Electric car battery maker A123 Systems Inc. got a $249 million stimulus grant, and used it to persuade investors to back its own Sept. 24 offering, he said. A123 is based in Watertown, Mass.
Solyndra’s sales jumped almost fortyfold in the first nine months of the year to $58.8 million from $1.5 million a year earlier, according to the filing. Its net loss narrowed to $119.8 million from $179.8 million.
