Three buyers vying for solar thermal company Ausra

Posted Nov 14th 2009 6:31PM by Tom Johansmeyer
Filed under: Private Equity, Technology, Green Stocks, PG and E Corporation (PCG)

Sunny skies are here for Ausra, the solar thermal company backed by Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures. The company is looking for a buyer, and it's already talking to three, according to a report by Reuters. Everything is up for grabs, from a majority stake in the company to 100% of it, and the back-and-forth going on is at a "very aggressive level."

The businesses looking to pick up Ausra are said to be global power generation conglomerates but haven't been named yet. So, the clean energy company would be a way for one of them to diversify.

Ausra's been around since 2006, when the venture capital community started to be drawn to the cleantech sector. In 2007, it picked up a hefty deal with PG&E (PCG), the California utility. So far, it's raised $130 million in venture capital money, and it looks like an exit strategy is on the horizon. Ausra canceled the PG&E deal this month and sold the land associated with it to First Solar (FSLR), the biggest solar power company in the United States.

The talks for Ausra's future have become incredibly serious. A source said to Reuters that "extensive work" has been completed with the potential buyers. "We're talking about meetings with dozens of people involved," the source told the news service.

Meanwhile, two other green energy transactions are in the works. ReneSola Ltd (SOL) has announced plans to purchase Dynamic Green Energy Ltd, and silicon manufacturer MEMC Eelectronic Materials (WFR) is getting ready to snatch up SunEdison, which installs, maintains and provides financing for commercial-scale solar systems.

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