SunPower CFO Announces Departure, New CFO Named

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) today announced that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Chuck Boynton will transition out of SunPower to spend time with his family, in advance of pursuing career opportunities later this year. Boynton agreed to continue as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 8point3 Energy Partners through the sale.

The company has named Manavendra Sial, an experienced business, operations and financial leader, as its new CFO, effective following the filing of SunPower's first-quarter 10-Q. He will lead SunPower's global finance, planning and accounting organizations. Boynton will transition responsibilities to Sial over the next couple months.

"During his eight years with SunPower, Chuck has worked tirelessly, providing strong leadership during a period of industry change and helping SunPower grow significantly," said SunPower CEO and Chairman of the Board Tom Werner. "Chuck has been an invaluable partner to me, leading many strategic transactions, providing thought leadership and disciplined financial acumen to SunPower. He will conclude his time with SunPower closing the sale of 8point3 Energy Partners along with completing the sale of other assets, which will improve our liquidity, allow us to delever our balance sheet and provide the resources necessary to further invest in our core growth initiatives. We thank him for his many contributions to SunPower and wish him the best with his future endeavors."

Sial, SunPower's newly named CFO, brings more than 20 years of global experience, including in operational finance, general management and financial planning and analysis. He most recently served as CFO for VECTRA, a $1 billion technology-driven diversified industry business, which was a portfolio company of certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC. During his time with VECTRA, Sial leveraged his organizational expertise to drive top-line growth, increase margins and improve cash generation, while implementing initiatives to simplify the company's decision-making processes.

"Manavendra brings a great breadth of experience to SunPower, with a track record of driving top-line growth, and improving margins and cash," Werner said. "His knowledge of the energy business will allow him to bring value to the position on day one and continue our prioritization of financial operations and cost savings programs."

Prior to VECTRA, Sial was with SunEdison in various global finance and operations leadership roles from 2011 to 2015 including CFO of MEMC's solar energy and materials divisions. He spent 11 years with General Electric (GE) in a variety of roles, from FP&A leader for the Energy Services unit to CFO of Power Delivery for GE's Transmission and Distribution group.

He earned his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and his Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University in India.

Year-to-date, SunPower has made significant strides to simplify its business, improve liquidity and return to sustained profitability. The company continues to see tremendous growth potential and is structuring the business to profitably capitalize on this. For the first-quarter 2018, SunPower exceeded its revenue, gross margin and Adjusted EBITDA guidance. The company will provide additional details related to financial performance on its May 8, 2018 earnings call.

About SunPower 

As one of the world's most innovative and sustainable energy companies, SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) provides a diverse group of customers with complete solar solutions and services. Residential customers, businesses, governments, schools and utilities around the globe rely on SunPower's more than 30 years of proven experience. From the first flip of the switch, SunPower delivers maximum value and superb performance throughout the long life of every solar system. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, SunPower has dedicated, customer-focused employees in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. For more information about how SunPower is changing the way our world is powered, visit www.sunpower.com.