She still has questions about:
- The due diligence that was undertaken before the investment was made
- The monitoring of the investment
- The structure of the deal that left taxpayer money so exposed.
“The failure of SolarZero raised questions about taxpayers’ money being used in this way and those are questions ministers will be giving consideration to,” the statement said.
Willis sought assurances about NZGIF’s other investments.
These include solar farm start-up Lodestone Energy, to which it provided a $15m working capital facility in FY24.
“This facility remains current,” a spokesman told the Herald this afternoon. A full list of its investments has been posted online here. While its various SolarZero debt facilities have been easily the largest bits of business for the self-styled “green bank” (it is not a registered bank), NZGIF has also extended chunky credit lines to EV fleet leasing firm Carbn ($42.4m), UK firm Zenobe ($20m), which is doing work on electrification of businesses in NZ, solar farm firms Far North Solar Farm ($78m) and Lodestone Energy ($15m).
And although a lot of NZGIF’s dealings have been with startups, it has also done business with established players including a $1.2m debit facility for Genesis Energy (”to help industry switch from fossil fuels”), a $10m mezzanine debt facility to NZ Post to co-finance $10m spent on electric vans and a $15m “green credit facility” to CentrePort for “accelerating projects to decarbonise Wellington’s port”.
‘We are not responsible for what the company has done’
As she emerged from her meeting with Willis and Watts, Tarrant initially refused to comment, then said to Newstalk ZB’s Jason Walls: “We do feel very bad, as we all do, about the people who have lost their jobs, but we did not lend to SolarZero the company and we are not responsible for what the company has done.”
Tarrant said: “Let’s step back a minute and understand that we did not lend to SolarZero itself. We lent on the receivables; the panels and batteries that were installed on people’s houses and those contracts. Those customers are fine. They are now being serviced by Verofi as the standby servicer who has stepped in to take over from SolarZero.”
The NZGIF debt was securitised and held by two special-purpose vehicles, both of which were taken over by the Public Trust shortly before the liquidation. The special purpose vehicles are not in liquidation. The first liquidators report says: “The Liquidators understand that SZL [SolarZero Limited] had underwritten certain aspects of the securitisation, resulting in unsustainable regular payments to the SPVs.”
BlackRock move ‘a surprise’
Later on Thursday, Tarrant added in a statement: “Our Shareholding Ministers rightly have questions about how this all happened, and so do we. The change in stance from SolarZero’s owner BlackRock came as a surprise to NZGIF and other lenders, and indeed appears to have caught SolarZero’s CEO off guard given recent public comments.
“We are extremely frustrated by this outcome. NZGIF and other international lenders worked to support the growth of this business. BlackRock has not explained its sudden change in stance toward this company, which has severely impacted its staff, suppliers, contractors and partners.
“Prior to early November we had no indication from the SolarZero board or BlackRock that the company did not have the support of its owner, which had been funding the ongoing operation of the group. NZGIF takes an active role in monitoring and engaging with investee and client companies and it is fair to say we, along with staff, suppliers and customers, have been shocked by BlackRock’s decision to place the company in liquidation,” Tarrant said.
An NZGIF spokesman said earlier that it had less than a day’s notice of BlackRock’s intent to liquidate.
The Herald has asked BlackRock for comment.
The first liquidators’ report revealed that beyond the $110m it paid for SolarZero, the private equity firm had “injected significant additional capital to the group since its 2022 acquisition, totalling $147.8m”.
Liquidators Russell Moore and Stephen Keen, both of Grant Thornton, said the firm had never been profitable.
The pair said the total amount owing was still being established. It was not clear at this point if there would be funds to pay secured creditors.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
