Tesla and SolarCity to merge in new acquisition
Elon Musk is well-known as one of the people behind Tesla, the company famous for electric cars. Now, Tesla will acquire another Musk business, the energy business SolarCity. According to Popular Mechanics, Tesla will pay $2.6 billion for the deal.
As the transaction is made is also following through with his plans for a "solar roof" model. This would bring energy benefits to buildings by directly interacting with them, instead of relegating the solar power element to a panel .
A Reuters article from Jul. 25 stated that the offer was originally $2.8 billion in stock options. Musk and other high-ranking individuals with ties between the two companies, decided to abstain from voting in the merger decision. The source also quoted Musk himself, who said that the partnership would make it easier to accomplish all of Tesla's current clean energy goals in a recent conference call.
"We can't do this well if Tesla and SolarCity are different companies, which is why we need to combine and break down the barriers inherent to being separate companies," Musk said.
Musk gave more details about the plan for Solar City in a recent earnings call presentation, Clean Technica recently reported. The source profiled Musk's comments, which concerned a future model that uses the entire roof to capture solar energy.
The option is meant to replace ailing roofs with a green-friendly alternative that goes beyond typical panels. There could also be a distinct connection between the energy-harvesting homes and the electric cars owners use.
A June 22 article from the New York Times said that the combined SolarCity and Tesla entities could have potentially spent around $5 billion in cash last year. The article also said that SolarCity stock was $25.26 during after-hours trading.