Starwood Acquires Majority of Nautilus Solar

However, the companies said Starwood Energy's investment will provide working capital and facilitate an expansion of Nautilus Solar's corporate infrastructure. The funding also includes a US $50 million commitment from Starwood for future Nautilus Solar projects. Nautilus Solar has a project pipeline of more than 500 megawatts of solar energy generation capacity that is schedules to be installed over the next two years.

"We are excited to complete this majority investment in Nautilus Solar," said Brad Nordholm, CEO of Starwood Energy. "Jim Rice, Alan Dash, and Laura Stern have, in a very short period of time, demonstrated significant leadership in building Nautilus into the company it is today, with a number of solar projects already completed and several more in advanced stages of development. We see Nautilus Solar as a foundational component of our solar growth strategy and look forward to expanding our footprint in the retail, wholesale, and utility-scale solar sectors in 2009."

The investment significantly expands Starwood Energy's focus on the solar energy sector. In late 2007, Starwood Energy reached a teaming agreement with Lockheed Martin to pursue utility-scale solar generation projects in North America. Nautilus Solar personnel have been and will continue to work closely with Starwood Energy on its solar generation projects with Lockheed Martin.