Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. (SUNL)

Sunlight Financial ran a technology platform for residential solar financing. Through its Orange platform, solar installers could offer homeowners point-of-sale loans for rooftop solar systems, batteries, and other home improvements. The loans were made and funded by partner banks and credit unions, and Sunlight earned fees for arranging them. The company was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with an office in New York.

Sunlight was founded in 2014 as residential solar adoption in the U.S. grew quickly. Backed by private equity firm FTV Capital and others, it became one of the larger solar loan platforms. In July 2021 it went public by merging with Spartan Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC sponsored by Apollo, and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under SUNL.

Sunlight's model was hurt when interest rates rose in 2022. Its fixed fees and loan pricing did not keep up with higher funding costs, and a major installer partner, Pink Energy, collapsed. The company booked large goodwill writedowns, its lending partners cut back, and the stock fell to well under $1.

On September 25, 2023, the NYSE suspended trading and started delisting proceedings because the company's market value had fallen too low, and the shares moved to the over-the-counter market. Sunlight filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 case on October 30, 2023, and the restructuring left the business privately owned while public shareholders were wiped out.