MEMC To Buy SunEdison For $200 Million

ST. PETERS, Mo. (AP) — MEMC Electronic Materials Inc., a maker of silicon wafers, said Thursday it agreed to buy SunEdison LLC, North America's largest solar energy services provider, for $200 million in cash and stock.

The deal, which involves a payment of $140 million in cash and the rest in MEMC stock, is expected to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

MEMC could pay an additional $89 million in cash and stock if SunEdison meets certain performance targets in 2010.

The deal also calls for an extra $17 million in employee retention payments and up to $34 million more in stock, depending on if employees meet certain performance criteria.

MEMC Chief Executive Ahmad Chatila called SunEdison a "third engine of growth" that will supplement MEMC's business supplying the solar and semiconductor industries with silicon wafer products.

Privately held SunEdison is based in Beltsville, Md., and employs about 300 people worldwide. It will continue to operate under its own brand name.

MEMC said it expects the acquisition to boost its earnings by the second half of 2010.

MEMC shares slid 43 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $15 in after-hours trading, after shedding 2 cents to close at $15.43.

The company on Thursday also reported a 43 percent drop in revenue in the third quarter and a $65 million loss, reversing a profit from a year earlier.