Another classic:
Now, the date of this visit — May 26 — is important.
It was in early April that the first warning signs of Solyndra’s pending IPO came to light. VentureBeat:
Following its loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, solar module maker Solyndra has been facing a battery of audits. Sounds like simple due diligence, but now auditors have called attention to the Fremont, Calif. company’s avalanche of debt and regular losses — findings that could actually dash its hopes for a $300 million public sale.
Solyndra has become the solar company to watch ever since it nabbed that $535 million loan guarantee from the Energy Department. Filing for an IPO in late December was just the next step to claim its title as one of the most promising players to watch, up there with First Solar and SunPower, both of which have gone public.
But if PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company’s audit firm, has anything to say about it, Solyndra may have to backtrack. It just added an addendum to the S-1 pointing out massive losses and negative cash flow since the company’s founding, as well as mounting debt that could bury operations within a year. The audit evaluated finances between inception and Jan. 2, 2010.
And then in mid-June, Solyndra actually pulled its IPO.
Here’s the timeline:
April: Solyndra audit shows deep trouble
May: Obama talks up Solyndra
June: Solyndra pulls their IPO
From my vantage point, it looks like Team Obama was trying to put a little “lipstick on a pig.”
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