SolarCity sets IPO price range

San Mateo, Calif., solar panel installer SolarCity Corp. set the price range for its proposed initial public offering at $13 to $15 per share, according to a filing Tuesday, Nov. 27, with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It plans to sell 10 million shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "SCTY" with the hope of raising $151 million. Company owners plan to sell 65,000 shares in the offering. SolarCity will have 71.7 million shares outstanding and a market value of $1 billion at the pricing range's midpoint.

The offering is expected in a few weeks after the company postponed it because of Hurricane Sandy. Goldman, Sachs & Co., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Needham & Co. and Roth Capital Partners are underwriting the offering. SolarCity expects to use the net proceeds for working capital, capital expenditures and acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets.

Brothers Lyndon and Peter Rive founded the company in 2006 with cousin Elon Musk, a co-founder of PayPal Inc. who now heads up Tesla Motors Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and serves as SolarCity's chairman.

SolarCity investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DBL Investors, Mayfield Fund, Shea Ventures, Nicholas Pritzker of Tao Ventures, Generation Capital Inc., Valor Equity Partners and SilverLake Kraftwerk LP.

Although competitors First Solar Inc. and Suntech Power Holdings Co. have been hurt by a flood of cheap solar components in the market, SolarCity claims that lower solar panel prices are good for its business. SolarCity might not be coming to the markets at the most opportune time for companies in the alternative energy sector. Power plant developer BrightSource Energy Inc. pulled its $180 million IPO in April citing market conditions, and competitor SunPower Corp.'s stock is trading at the low end of its 52-week range.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC's Steven Bernard and Alexander Phillips are advising SolarCity, whose general counsel is Seth Weissman. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP's Thomas Ivey is assisting the underwriters.