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US: Tesla Motors wins US antitrust approval to buy SolarCity Petro

By  |  August 30, 2016

It was announced late last week that the FTC provided the antitrust approval. The merger was on a list of proposed transactions for the FTC to oversee. The federal agency offered a very fast approval since the merging firms had either very few or no overlaps whatsoever.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk presented the proposal earlier this summer. The offer was worth $2.6 billion. After some intensive lobbying and combating against public opinion, the merger was completed on Aug. 1.

Officials still had to seek approval from the government. The initiative is part of Tesla’s efforts to enhance economies of scale when it comes to battery production, electrical energy management systems and marketing.

Although Tesla plans to take advantage of SolarCity’s technology, it is SolarCity that benefits more. The solar firm, which has been struggling over the last 12 months, has found it very difficult to compete because of the growing competition. Other solar firms have been offering consumers with low-cost solar energy and installations. Moreover, SolarCity has been hurt by state governments veering away from subsidies that intended to ramp up rooftop solar installations.

Full Content: Petro Global News

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