SunEdison acquires Mark Group to bolster UK solar rooftop push

American solar PV developer, SunEdison has announced that it has acquired Leicester-based energy provider, Mark Group for an undisclosed fee.

The acquisition of Mark Group gives SunEdison a direct sales channel to the UK domestic and commercial market. Mark Group is estimated to have an existing customer base of around two million.

SunEdison entered the UK domestic and commercial solar space at the beginning of this year, bringing to market two PPA offerings. Mark Group was one of SunEdison’s UK partners offering the company’s domestic SunEdison Energy Saver Plan.

“Mark Group is a seasoned leader in delivering energy efficient solutions to homeowners and businesses in the UK, and this acquisition will enable SunEdison to offer additional energy solutions, products, and services directly to customers,” explained Vikas Desai, SunEdison senior vice president of residential and small commercial.

“By establishing a direct sales channel in the UK, we are augmenting our existing installation partner network to meet the growing demand for solar in this market.”

However, the acquisition also provides SunEdison to expand its offering away from solar PV. Desai explained: “As we rapidly scale our business globally, we see the Mark Group expanding SunEdison's expertise and bandwidth in the consumer energy efficiency market, an excellent complement to our residential and commercial distributed solar business.”

Bill Rumble, chief commercial officer at Mark Group said that the acquisition would give the company “the opportunity to deliver even greater value to our customers, helping them to enjoy long-term benefits from insulation, solar power and other expertly installed energy products”.

SunEdison has been very active in the UK ground-mount solar sector too, securing its position as one of the top-three utility, ground-mount solar players.

The acquisition of Mark Group mirrors SunEdison’s US$2.2 billion acquisition of US residential PV provider, Vivint Solar on Monday. SunEdison sad that the move would support its residential solar push, both in the US and globally.