Mercatus Launches Next Generation Platform to Accelerate Securitization of Residential and Commercial Solar Portfolios

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercatus, Inc., the investment analysis and decision making platform serving as the core "operating system" for solar energy investors, announces the release of its second generation platform, Mercatus 2.0, to accelerate securitizations of residential and commercial portfolios. Haresh Patel, CEO of Mercatus, made the announcement.

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The Mercatus 2.0 release includes new and enhanced features including portfolio analysis and automated ratings for both the residential and commercial segments. These additions are expected to be major enablers for the onslaught of distributed generation solar securitizations that are expected to occur in 2014. The new release also features enhanced tools to help investors make more informed decisions when allocating budgets and resources with enhanced data and analytics for real-time performance measurements. 

Since its 2009 inception, Mercatus has assessed over 11 GW of solar projects, and currently serves 40% of the distributed generation U.S. solar market. Mercatus counts the industry's top global developers, institutional investors and independent power producers as customers. Subscribers to the Mercatus platform are currently targeting $1.2 billion in dedicated capital deployment for distributed generation solar investments in 2014.

"As Wall Street begins to eye the industry as an emerging asset class, new financing vehicles such as Yieldcos, MLPs, Solar REITs, and PACE financing require a sophisticated solution to rapidly deploy capital and help the industry reach its full potential, both as a mainstream source of distributed generation and a viable asset class," said Mr. Patel. "Mercatus 2.0 is the answer, providing the fastest and most accurate solar investment analysis and decision making tools in the industry. Our comprehensive solution saves investors time and millions of dollars in due diligence costs and lost opportunities."

According to Mr. Patel, "The solar sector has seen massive shifts in the last 18 months.  While the cost of technology and installation have fallen dramatically, one factor has remained constant - the high cost of financing. Developers, tasked with originating bankable projects, are failing to attract capital as evidenced by abysmal closure rates of 1-2% annually. Solar energy investors - lacking the resources, best practices and in some cases, domain expertise to make expedient decisions - are simply not deploying capital."

The release of Mercatus 2.0 coincides with closing of Series A financing with an investment by Trepp, LLC, the leading provider of information, analytics and technology to the CMBS, commercial real estate and banking markets.  Trepp's investment is combined with Vision Ridge Partners, who led the Mercatus' Series A funding in May 2014, along with Augment Ventures and Shah Capital.

"The new relationship with Trepp helps bolster the Mercatus offering with additional data feeds, analytics capabilities and intelligence for optimizing revenue and profit margins in existing markets, and enhancing the ability to enter new markets," said Mr. Patel. "The combined efforts of Trepp and Mercatus help provide the building blocks required to accelerate securitization and other low cost capital financing vehicles to help make solar a major asset class."

About Mercatus, Inc.
Mercatus is a leading solutions provider for the energy project finance industry, offering a Solar Investment Analysis platform for investors looking to make asset-class portfolio decisions.  Mercatus' new standardized approach to the project aggregation, pooling and syndication of individual projects provides the critical transaction interface the buy and sell sides have been waiting for.  Mercatus is based in Silicon Valley and backed by lead investor Vision Ridge Capital, Trepp, Inc., Augment Ventures, and Shah Capital. For more information visit http://www.gomercatus.com/.

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SOURCE Mercatus, Inc.