French energy company Total SA (TOTF.PA) offered to pay up to $1.37 billion for a majority stake in U.S. solar company SunPower Corp (SPWRA.O), one of the biggest moves ever by an oil and gas giant into the market for renewable energy. Solar power has been one of the fastest growing energy industries in recent years, but still remains tiny compared with oil, gas and coal because of its higher cost. With Total's financial heft behind it, SunPower said solar energy would become competitive with fossil fuels more quickly. "It's a vote of confidence from a much larger company and a vote of confidence for the solar industry as a whole," Wedbush analyst Christine Hersey said. Total will launch a tender offer for up to 60 percent of SunPower's outstanding Class A common shares and 60 percent of its Class B common shares for $23.25 a share.
SunPower Corporation (SunPower) is a vertically integrated solar products and services company that designs, manufactures and markets high-performance solar electric power technologies. Shares of SPWRA traded higher by 1.38% or $0.22/share to $16.12. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $9.61 and as high as $19.88. On average, 3713890 shares of SPWRA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5391952.
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