VT-based ‘The Peck Company’ is in the News Again

Jeff Peck rings the opening bell on the day The Peck Company (S. Burlington, VT) went public. Photo: The NASDAQ Stock Market.

George Harvey

The Peck Company has been of special interest here at Green Energy Times (GET) for a long while. It has been one of our supporters, but it has also been the source of some fairly impressive news. For instance, GET reported “Peck Electric: In the News Again” in May of 2019 (https://bit.ly/3hzbkjm).

The Peck Company was founded as a family-run business in 1972. For almost fifty years, it has prospered, growing from a small company servicing the area around South Burlington, Vermont, to having an important presence well beyond the local region. As a leading installer of commercial solar photovoltaic systems, it grew to the point where it was listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol, “PECK,” in 2019. That same year, General Contractors Magazine named Peck Electric “The Best Residential Contractor” in Vermont.

The Peck Company has grown to have wide geographic importance. Impressively, it was rated by Solar Power World as number 59 in the nation for the total amount of solar capacity installed in 2019 (https://bit.ly/3b259lj).

Now, The Peck Company is back in the news again. It has entered into an agreement under which it will acquire Sunworks, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Sunworks will receive stock in The Peck Company Holdings, Inc.

The combination of the two companies makes a good deal of sense. Where Peck is based in Vermont, Sunworks is based in California. Combined, they have a coast-to-coast presence. Peck is known for leadership in commercial solar engineering, procurement, and construction; and Sunworks has expertise in agricultural, commercial, and industrial applications, along with public works and residential installations. This gives the combined company a broad base of expertise.

While the new Peck Company will be greater than it had been, serving a national market with increased abilities, it will do this with a great savings in costs. Speaking of mergers and acquisitions, people make reference to synergies. Cost synergies make it possible for the combined company to avoid expenditures that would have been duplicated. In the case of the Peck Company and Sunworks, the avoided costs come to about $6 million per year.

Jeffrey Peck, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Peck, commented, “This is a transformational combination, leveraging the respective strengths of the two organizations and creating a national leader in the fast-growing and resilient solar energy industry. It provides Peck expansion, scale, an enhanced financial profile and a stronger platform from which we can continue to build more solar projects. Our integration with Sunworks will extend our presence to the west coast and broaden our offerings to agriculture and public works. The transaction solidifies our three-pronged growth strategy that we announced a year ago when we listed on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger. Since we have been public, we (1) delivered organic growth of revenue from $16 million to $28 million in the first year, (2) partnered with GreenBond Advisors to access capital that provides engineering, procurement, and construction  (EPC) revenue as well as asset ownership in the solar projects we build for the partnership, and now (3) we are delivering on the third prong of our strategy with an exciting accretive acquisition. We have been focused on executing these important initiatives for our shareholders and expect the acquisition of Sunworks to provide many more opportunities for long–term growth and profitability.”

Chuck Cargile, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Sunworks, added, “By joining with Peck, our vision for spreading clean solar energy throughout the U.S. is amplified and expanded. Peck has demonstrated the ability to grow revenue and maintain profitability, and we believe that the combination of our teams, customers, projects and partners will materially accelerate revenue growth and earnings. Peck’s strong partnership with GreenBond Advisors will allow us to offer financing to a broader range of customers and increase our addressable market. Additionally, our expanded scale will enable us to source solar panels and equipment through Peck’s established relationships at lower costs, benefiting our profit margins. Being part of Peck’s platform is exciting, and in the best interest of Sunworks shareholders, customers, business partners and employees.”