A stalking horse buyer is a company nominated by a company filing for bankruptcy to make an initial bid for its assets, to set a benchmark for other potential buyers to make bids.
A report from news outlet Reuters highlighted that a deadline for additional bids was set for Tuesday 10 September 2024. An auction would be held on September 16 if necessary, while a sale objection deadline was set to September 20.
According to Reuters, solar manufacturer Maxeon – which spun off from SunPower in 2020 – objected to the stalking horse bidding rules, stating that the company owned the rights to SunPower’s trademarks outside the US, however the objection was overruled.
When SunPower filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the sale of the assets was set at US$45 million and included SunPower’s Blue Raven Solar business, New Homes business and non-installing Dealer network.
SunPower aims to continue a sale process for its remaining assets and effectuate any resulting sale transactions pursuant to Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
SunPower Chapter 11 announcement in early August came less than a month after investment bank Roth Capital published a letter from SunPower—obtained from industry contacts—saying that the company had stopped several operations, including new shipments and financing options.
