(Bloomberg) -- SunPower Corp. got approval to sell its assets to rival Complete Solaria Inc. on Thursday, after declining demand and rising inflation pushed the California solar firm into bankruptcy in August.
US Bankruptcy Judge Craig Goldblatt said he’d approve a $45 million stalking-horse bid for a chunk of SunPower’s assets, including the company’s direct-to-consumer unit Blue Raven and some dealer networks. The deal means that if no higher offers come in at an auction to be held in the coming weeks, Complete Solaria will get the assets.
The fall of SunPower, a company that serviced more than half a million American homes, underscored the threat faced by the residential-solar industry. Subsidy cuts, a decline in sales and higher interest rates continue to squeeze its rivals.
Singapore-based Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd., a company that spun off from SunPower years ago, objected the bidding rules, arguing that it owns the international rights to SunPower’s brand. Maxeon also has a right to match any offer for SunPower’s trademarks, it said in court papers.
“There is a big, flashing-red warning sign that says you’re about to go down a road that may end” with problems, Maxeon attorney Andrew Kissner told Goldblatt during the hearing in Wilmington, Delaware.
Goldblatt overruled the objection, saying the bidding rules, by themselves, don’t take away Maxeon’s rights. That’s because no actual sale can close until Goldblatt gives final approval. Until the sale comes before him, the judge can’t answer whether Maxeon’s rights are being taken away, he said.
The judge also said he’d allow a $11.9 million sale of some solar loans and membership interests to fund the Chapter 11 case.
The case is SunPower Corporation, 24-11649, US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington)
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