Cypress Soars on Solar Power Deal

Shares of Cypress Semiconductor(CY Quote) soared on Friday, spurred by the company's announcement to buyback a large chunk of its convertible debt and by a blockbuster deal by Cypress's majority-owned solar power subsidiary.

On Thursday, Pacific Gas & Electric(PCG Quote) announced it had signed contracts to buy electricity from a pair of yet-to-be-built photovoltaic power plants, which would reportedly represent the largest such commercial installation of photovoltaic technology.

PG&E signed the deal with subsidiaries of Optisolar, a private firm, and with SunPower(SPWR Quote), a former unit of Cypress Semiconductor.

Shares of SunPower jumped 18.3%, or $14.4, at $93.01on the news in midday trading Friday.

Cypress, which still owns a 52% stack in SunPower, was up 13.3%, or $3.60, at $30.76.

In a separate announcement Friday, Cypress said it planned to make a tender offer to purchase up to $600 million of its convertible bonds due September 15, 2009.

As of June 29, Cypress had $800 million of convertible debt on its balance sheet and $225 million of long term debt