March 2021 – Croixstone

The BOOMING U.S. Solar Market

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie have published their latest quarterly report that provides insights into major trends in the fast-growing U.S. solar industry. Here are some key factoids that caught our attention in reviewing the report.

Solar accounted for 43% of all new electricity-generating capacity added in the U.S. in 2020.

Solar capacity added in 2020 was more than 43% greater than the capacity added in 2019.

The utility solar sector set the record for the most capacity installed in a single year in 2020.

Over the next decade, an estimated cumulative 324 GWdc of solar capacity will be added which is more than three times greater than what has been installed through 2020.

Solar capacity growth will be spread across all market segments as distributed solar customers, utilities, states and corporations push to decarbonize the grid.

Learn more here.

Croixstone Welcomes Grace Lynch

Croixstone is excited to announce today that Grace Lynch has joined our team in the newly-created role of Senior Manager, Business Operations.

Grace is an operations and process expert who drives business outcomes for fast-growth and transformative organizations. Her background includes nearly two decades at Wells Fargo during the bank’s growth spree where she served in the Office of the President and provided leadership focused on problem resolution and process optimization.

Grace also performed due diligence and integration activities for mergers and acquisitions. She served as a leader in the bank’s credit risk area and worked in a number of other roles in customer service and branch operations.

Grace has supported the Charlotte region’s nonprofit and faith communities in leadership roles with the Charlotte Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and Assurance United Methodist Church. As a social innovator, Grace is a co-founder of the Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.

Grace holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Finance and Economics from Augusta University.

We invite you to visit Grace’s profile on LinkedIn to learn more about her professional background and impressive accomplishments.

CEOs Are Seeing Happy Days Ahead

PwC surveyed 5,050 CEOs in 100 countries and territories over January and February 2021 for the firm’s 24th Annual Global CEO survey. The findings? A record 76% of global business leaders predict that economic growth will improve this year.

Survey Highlights

57% of US CEOs plan to pursue new M&A in the next 12 months

63% of US CEOs plan to launch a new product or service in the next 12 months

77% of global CEOs are seeking operational efficiencies as a top priority over the next 12 months

48% of US CEOs plan to increase their investments in cybersecurity & data privacy (with 30% planning to increase investments by 10% or more)

More than 22% of US CEOs say they’re adopting new environmental, social & governance (ESG) disclosure standards

Learn more here.

2021 is Proving to be Another “SPAC-tacular” Year.

It is nearly impossible to read an article about Wall Street without coming across a mention about SPACs. For those not familiar with the term, Investopedia defines SPAC as “a special purpose acquisition company with no commercial operations that is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring an existing company.”

Here are some interesting SPACs facts.

SPACs are often referred to as “blank check” companies.

While SPACs have been around for years, their popularity soared last year with their IPO fundraising hitting a record $83 billion (compared with $13.6 billion in 2019 and $10.7 billion in 2018).

SPAC activity in 2021 is far outpacing last year’s record year. So far in 2021, SPAC IPO fundraising has hit a record $64 billion.

In 2020, the average SPAC IPO size was $335 million for 248 listings.

So far in 2021, the average SPAC IPO size is $317 million for 202 listings.

According to PwC, one of the primary reasons for last year’s SPAC spree was the market entry of high-profile SPAC sponsors with experienced management teams.

PwC also cited the fact that SPACs offer an exit opportunity for private equity owners looking to cash out on their investment in the private company target in a shorter timeframe than in a traditional IPO.

Here are some SPACs links to help expand your knowledge.

Learn SPAC 101 from CNBC .

Read about the benefits and challenges of a SPAC i n this PwC article .

Visit SPACInsider to keep current on SPAC news and statistics.