"George Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent charitable foundation, is among many investors in Solyndra and has suffered a loss as a result of the company's inability to overcome serious challenges in the marketplace, especially the drastic decline in solar panel prices during the past two years caused in part by subsidies provided by the government of China to Chinese solar panel manufacturers," the statement said.
Ken Levit, executive director of the Tulsa-based foundation, said the closure of the Fremont, Calif.-based solar panel maker will not change the ongoing activities or investments of the foundation.
George Kaiser is chairman of Tulsa-based BOK Financial Corp. and owner of Kaiser-Francis Oil Co.
Solyndra, which employed 1,100 people, shut down Wednesday.
Solyndra spokesman David Miller said in an email to Bloomberg News that the company is likely to file for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on Sept. 7 as it evaluates options including selling itself or licensing its technology, and that all of its employees have been dismissed.
The company had raised nearly $1 billion in private equity financing as well as getting a $535 million loan from the U.S Department of Energy in 2009.
The largest non-government investor, according to a report by CNN Money, was the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
The foundation was listed as holding more than a 35 percent equity stake when Solyndra filed for a $300 million initial public offering in 2009, CNN Money reported. The solar company later canceled the IPO.
Other big backers included Madrone Partners, a venture capital firm affiliated with the Walton family of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., with an 11 percent stake; and U.S. Venture Partners at 10.19 percent, CNN Money reported.
However, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, Madrone Capital and RockPort Capital were among the investors that were pressured by the Department of Energy to reinvest to demonstrate support, according to a report by VentureWire.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the company was valued at more than $1 billion in 2008, though that valuation had fallen to $200 million to $250 million by last year.
Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison said in a statement Wednesday that the shutdown was "unexpected," though 24/7 Wall Street reported that other solar companies shut down in August, including Evergreen Solar and SpectraWatt Inc.
Energy Department officials said Wednesday that cheaper solar panels made in China undercut Solyndra.
"We have always recognized that not every one of the innovative companies supported by our loans and loan guarantees would succeed," department spokesman Dan Leistikow said. "But we can't stop investing in game-changing technologies that are key to America's leadership in the global economy."
The company may have trouble finding a buyer, said Adam Krop, an analyst at Ardour Capital Partners in New York.
"I don't see anyone swooping in," he said in an interview. "I don't see this technology as very viable in the long-term. I see someone maybe buying the facility."
Solyndra produces cylindrical panels that convert sunlight into electricity using copper, indium, gallium and diselenide in a thin-film technology. Standard solar panels are flat.
"Manufacturing and assembly costs associated with a Solyndra module aren't particularly scalable," Krop said.
The company has borrowed $527 million of the $535 million covered by the Energy Department loan guarantee, Damien LaVera, a department spokesman, said in an email.
Solyndra plans to include the Energy Department loan guarantee in its bankruptcy filing.
The Washington Post and Bloomberg contributed to this story.
Original Print Headline: Chinese subsidies cited in collapse
Robert Evatt 918-581-8447robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com
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