STR Holdings to launch first solar IPO in 15 mos

STR Holdings Inc. plans to go public this Friday, a move that would launch the first solar initial public offering on a U.S. index in over a year.

The maker of solar module encapsulants and consumer product quality assurance services is looking to raise net proceeds of about $25.4 million. Encapsulants are specialty sheets and film that hold a solar module together and protect the semiconductor circuit.

STR is offering 2.3 million common shares and plans to price shares between $13 and $15 each. Its selling stockholders - which include board member affiliates, executive officers and affiliates of an underwriter - will sell 10 million shares.

Francis Gaskins, president of IPOdesktop, said the offering appears overpriced, given its plunging net income, hefty amounts of debt and rising interest expense as a percent of operating income.

"There's a hint of desperation in the IPO," said Gaskins, noting that STR's IPO seems "driven by shareholders saying 'Get me out of this deal.' They want to bail."

The largest selling stockholder still plans to hold a stake in the company. With this offering, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners IV LP and its affiliated funds will reduce its share ownership from 51.1 percent of shares to between 32.9 percent and 35.3 percent, depending on whether the underwriters buy more shares.

A spokesman for STR Holding declined to comment, citing a "quiet period" imposed by the SEC. A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse, which represents the selling stockholders, was not immediately available for comment.

For the first six months of the year, the company's net income fell 61 percent to $6.2 million from the year-ago period, as market conditions worsened. Revenue for the period fell 14 percent to $117.7 million.

The company said it plans to use $15 million of the proceeds to pay off debt, while the remaining proceeds will fund working capital and general corporate purposes. The company will not receive any proceeds from the sale of stockholders' shares. Underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 1.845 million shares.

STR expects to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "STRI."

This IPO launch comes just a week after energy infrastructure company AEI canceled its initial public offering after reducing its size and price range, delivering a blow to the U.S. IPO market.

It was the first company in 2009 to withdraw its IPO just before it priced.