SunEdison, Inc. (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials) was a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high-purity polysilicon, monocrystalline silicon ingots, silicon wafers, solar modules, solar energy systems, and solar module racking systems. Originally a silicon-wafer manufacturer established in 1959 as the Monsanto Electronic Materials Company, the company was sold by Monsanto in 1989.
It is one of the leading solar power companies worldwide, and with its acquisition of wind energy company First Wind in 2014, SunEdison became the leading renewable energy development company in the world. In 2015, SunEdison sold off its subsidiary SunEdison Semiconductor, marking the completion of SunEdison's transition from a semiconductor-wafer company to a dedicated renewable-energy corporation.
Following years of major expansion and the announcement of the intent—which eventually fell through—to acquire the residential-rooftop solar company Vivint Solar in 2015, SunEdison's stock plummeted, and its more than $11billion in debt caused it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 21, 2016, eventually emerging in December 2017 as a restructured, smaller, private company.
History
Foundation The establishment of Monsanto Electronic Materials Company (MEMC), a silicon wafer–manufacturing division to serve the emerging electronics industry, was announced on August 6, 1959, as an arm of the U.S.-based multinational corporation Monsanto.Swinger, p. 16. In February 1960 MEMC started production of 19mm silicon ingots at its location in St. Peters, Missouri, 30 miles west of Monsanto's headquarters in St. Louis.Swinger, pp. 14–15. As one of the first companies to produce semiconductor wafers, MEMC was a pioneer in the field, and some of its innovations became industry standards into the 21st century.Pederson, Jay P. (ed). International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 81. St. James Press, 2007. pp. 249–252. MEMC used the Czochralski process (CZ process) of silicon crystal production,Rockett, Angus. The Materials Science of Semiconductors. Springer Science & Business Media, 2007. p. 184. and developed the Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) process of wafer finishing.Swinger, pp. 16, 18–19.Semiconductor International, Volume 31, Issues 1-6. Cahners Publishing Company, 2008. p. 55. In 1966 MEMC installed its first reactors for the production of epitaxial wafers,Springer, p. 21.MEMC Timeline. MEMC.com. Accessed December 10, 2014. and developed zero-dislocation crystal growing, which made large-diameter silicon crystals possible.Swinger, pp. 16, 22–23.
Expansion In the early 1970s, MEMC opened a production plant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and sent its St. Peters–produced 2.25-inch ingots there for slicing and polishing.Swinger, pp. 28–29. In 1979, MEMC became the first company to manufacture 125mm (5-inch) wafers; in 1981 the first to produce 150mm (6-inch) wafers; and, in partnership with IBM, in 1984 the first to produce 200mm (8-inch) wafers.Swinger, pp. 28, 30, 40, 43.Kotzias, George A. MEMC Electronic. Calyon Securities, CLSA. August 19, 2008.Anderson, Colonel John M. (United States Army). NATIONAL MANUFACTURING STRATEGY: Is a National Manufacturing Strategy Essential to National Security?. U.S. Army War College. May 1, 2011. p. 10. In 1986 MEMC opened its production and R&D facility in Utsunomiya, Japan to serve the Japanese semiconductor market, becoming the first non-Japanese wafer maker with manufacturing and research facilities in Japan.Swinger, pp. 42–43.Utsunomiya – MEMC Japan Ltd.. SunEdisonSemi.com. Accessed December 10, 2012.
Change of ownership MEMC experienced heavy price-pressure from Japanese competition during the mid 1980s. Despite its success and increasing revenues, MEMC had to account for losses for a few years, leading to the decision of Monsanto, which was refocusing on chemicals, agriculture, and biotechnology products, to sell the electronic materials division.McQuarrie, Gray. Change Your Dam Thinking. Bound Publishing, 2010. p. 104.Swinger, pp. 45, 47. In 1989 the German company Hüls AG, the chemicals arm of the German conglomerate VEBA, acquired Monsanto Electronic Materials and combined it with Hüls' previous acquisition Dynamite Nobel Silicon (DNS) to form MEMC Electronic Materials.Swinger, pp. 47–50.Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys, Volume 159. Standard and Poor's Corporation, 1991. p. 183.Feder, Barnaby J. "A Wafer Maker's Formula for Success: Equal Parts Sand and Grit". New York Times. January 27, 1997. DNS already operated silicon wafer plants in Merano and Novara, Italy and integrated them within the new MEMC Electronic Materials.Swinger, pp. 12, 47, 49. Hüls supported the new subsidiary with $50million, for research and development and for manufacturing expansion.Swinger, pp. 49–50. In 1991 MEMC developed the first process using granular polysilicon, which provided cost and productivity advantages over "chunk" polysilicon.Swinger, p. 38. Four years later MEMC acquired Albemarle Corporation's granular polysilicon production facility in Pasadena, Texas, which had been producing granular polysilicon since 1987.Swinger, p. 54, 55.
MEMC's stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with an initial public offering in 1995. The IPO raised over $400million, which went to finance an aggressive growth plan and repay some of the debt to its parent company, and Hüls/VEBA retained a majority interest in the company.Swinger, p. 64.
The cyclical downturn in the semiconductor business in the late 1990s hit MEMC hard.Swinger, pp. 65–67. In 1998 the company reported a loss of $316million on revenues of $759million. In June 2000 VEBA AG, still holding 72% of MEMC, was merged with VIAG to form the new E.ON AG.Swinger, p. 68. E.ON wanted to focus on its core business of electric utilities, and assigned Merrill Lynch to sell MEMC. Merrill was unable to find a buyer until MEMC announced that it was on the verge of illiquidity in the middle of 2001.Miller, Beth. "MEMC rescued by Texas Pacific Group, stock soars". St. Louis Business Journal. October 1, 2001. Finally in October 2001 E.ON was able to agree on a deal with the private equity company Texas Pacific Group (TPG), which purchased E.ON's stake in MEMC for a symbolic dollar and offered MEMC $150million in credit lines. TPG restructured MEMC's debt, increased its stake in the company to 90%, and cut one third of its workforce.
MEMC returned to profitability following the appointment of Nabeel Gareeb, who was CEO of MEMC from April 2002 to November 2008.Beller, Peter C. "Mr. Sunshine". Forbes. April 21, 2008.Davidson, Andrew (ed). 1000 CEOs. Dorling Kindersley, Penguin Group, 2009. p. 426.Swinger, pp. 69–74. MEMC's market share rose again and by 2003 it reported positive earning figures."Case Study: MEMC: Realizing A Distressed Company’s Hidden Promise". Private Equity Counsel. PEGCC.org. September 13, 2007. MEMC's sales topped $1billion in 2004, and it was number three in market share.Swinger, p. 69. Through a secondary offering, TPG reduced its share of MEMC in 2005 to 34%, and by the end of 2007, to zero. On October 30, 2008, Gareeb stepped down as president and CEO of the company.
Solar market entry
In 2006 MEMC announced its large-scale entry into the burgeoning solar wafer market, via longterm agreements to supply China-based Suntech Power and Taiwan-based Gintech Energy with solar-grade silicon wafers.Harrington, Shannon D. . Bloomberg News. July 6, 2006."MEMC and Gintech Execute Solar Wafer Supply Contract". RenewableEnergyWorld.com. October 27, 2006. Similar contracts followed with Germany-based Conergy in 2007, and Taiwan-based Tainergy Tech in 2008.Zubko, Nick. "MEMC Electronic Materials Enters 10-Year Supply Contract". IndustryWeek. July 10, 2008. The company cultivated short-term solar wafer customers as well.Swinger, p. 71. By 2007, MEMC held approximately 14% of the solar wafer market. Having returned MEMC to a foundation of profitability and having helped it enter the solar market, CEO Nabeel Gareeb resigned in November 2008. Ahmad Chatila was appointed president and CEO in February 2009.
In July 2009 MEMC and Q-Cells, which specialized in construction and operation of photovoltaic plants, formed a joint venture to build Strasskirchen Solar Park, a 50 MW photovoltaic plant in Bavaria, Germany, with MEMC supplying the solar wafers and Q-Cells converting them into solar cells.Hughes, Emma. "Q-Cells International to construct 50 MWp solar park in Bavaria". PV Tech. July 24, 2009."Q-Cells International to construct 50 MWp solar park in Bavaria". Cleanergy.org. July 27, 2009. Both partners invested $100million each, in return for a 50%-each ownership of the project. As planned, the plant was sold to an investment firm, Nordcapital, after operations started at the beginning of 2010."Q-Cells SE transfers largest crystalline solar PV park in Germany to Nordcapital". SolarServer. April 6, 2010.
Acquisition of SunEdison In November 2009 MEMC acquired the privately owned company SunEdison LLC, North America's largest solar energy services provider. Founded by Jigar ShahJigar Shah, Director and Claire Broido JohnsonClaire Broido Johnson, Director. Empower Energies. EmpowerEnergies.com. SunEdison had been developing, financing, building, operating, and monitoring large-scale photovoltaic plants for commercial customers, including many national retail outlets, government agencies, and utilities, since 2003.Cohen, Nevin (ed). Green Business: An A-to-Z Guide. Sage Publications, 2011. pp. 478–479.Hanna, Nick. The Green Investing Handbook. Harriman House Limited, 2010. Parts 261–262 (Google eBook version).Katz, Jonathan. "MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.: Solar Powered". IndustryWeek. January 7, 2010. The company had pioneered solar-as-a-service, and the solar power purchase agreement (PPA) for no-money-down customer financing.Warren, Roxanne. Rail and the City: Shrinking Our Carbon Footprint While Reimagining Urban Space. MIT Press, 2014. p. 228. With the acquisition of SunEdison, MEMC became a developer of solar power projects and North America's largest solar energy services provider."MEMC Completes Acquisition of SunEdison". PR Newswire. November 23, 2009. CEO Ahmad Chatila announced that "MEMC will now participate in the actual development of solar power plants and commercialization of clean energy, in addition to supplying the solar and semiconductor industries with our traditional silicon wafer products."Osborne, Mark. "MEMC acquires SunEdison in bid to further build downstream solar business". PV Tech. October 23, 2009. SunEdison was purchased for $200million, 70% in cash and 30% in MEMC stock, plus retention payments, transaction expenses, and the assumption of net debt."MEMC acquires solar services leader SunEdison". Cleanergy.org. October 25, 2009.
Following its acquisition of SunEdison, MEMC also began to focus on developing and acquiring advanced technologies used in the production of low-cost, high-performance solar panels. It acquired the California-based solar tech company Solaicx in mid 2010. The acquisition included Solaicx's high-volume proprietary "continuous crystal growth" manufacturing technology, which produces low-cost monocrystalline silicon ingots for high-efficiency solar cells."Wafer maker MEMC to acquire solar firm Solaicx for $76 million" . SmartPlanet. May 25, 2010.Wesoff, Eric. "MEMC Continues M&A Hunt with $66M Solaicx Buy". Greentech Media. May 24, 2010.