Tesla Motors and SolarCity are inching closer to sealing the deal and creating a unified green energy enterprise, insiders with knowledge in the matter report.
The two ventures have been discussing the detailed terms of their merging into one single entity, but people close to the matter said that there is still a small chance that the negotiations will go stale.
Speculations roamed that SolarCity will negotiate hard to ensure a go-shop provision in a the case of a Tesla merger agreement. This would mean that the solar panel builder will keep delivering its products and services to third parties for a small amount of time, after Tesla and SolarCity inked the deal.
Until the two companies provide an official statement, take these bits of info with a grain of salt. The sources insisted on remaining anonymous, as negotiations are confidential, and neither Tesla nor SolarCity responded when the media asked them to comment on the issue.
In June, Tesla unveiled that it has put an offer on the table to purchase all SolarCity stock, worth $2.8 billion. The automaker affirmed that by purchasing SolarCity, the two enterprises could craft a one-stop clean energy shop. This would provide customers everything from electric cars and home battery storage to solar panels, all coming from a prominent, well-known and respected brand.
SolarCity did not take any public stance after Tesla's offer, but it did designate a committee to look into it. The committee consists of two board members and, according to sources from SolarCity, the committee took advice from legal and financial experts to gauge the company's independent prospects against Tesla's proposal.
Just as a reminder, Elon Musk is one of the major shareholders in both companies. In a gesture of good faith, he recused himself from taking a vote on the deal involving the two entities. A few SolarCity and Tesla executives followed suit, namely Lyndon Rive, who is the CEO of SolarCity and board member Peter Rive. The two, who are Musk's cousins, considered it best to abstain from voting on the matter.
Musk recently made a statement on July 20, when he talked about his upcoming plans for Tesla. During his speech, he did mention that the carmaker is looking to release an "integrated and beautiful solar-roof-with-battery product."
"We need to combine and break down the barriers inherent to being separate companies," Musk says.
This way, the know-how and resources from both companies can work side by side to provide the solar-roof autonomous vehicle everyone dreams of.
