Inside Sunrun and Vivint Solar's historic $3.2 billion deal - Business Insider

And by summer, there was just one winner: Sunrun, the nation's largest rooftop-solar company.While the bidding war was quick, Sunrun had considered the value of partnering with Vivint, the country's second-largest rooftop-solar provider, for about four years."Back in the 2016 timeframe, I think we both recognized that the two companies have really complementary customer reach," Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich told Business Insider.Click here to subscribe to Power Line, Business Insider's weekly energy newsletter.A complementary approach to acquiring new customers — one of the industry's biggest costs — is a key reason behind the proposed acquisition, Jurich said. In summer 2015, it struck a cash-and-stock deal with SunEdison — then among the largest solar companies — worth $2.2 billion.Vivint ultimately pulled out of the deal, citing SunEdison's "failure to meet its obligations under the merger agreement," but the company has considered several partnership opportunities in the years since, according to the filing, including with Sunrun.The first notion that a merger could offer shared value between the two rival firms dates back to 2016, Jurich said. At the heart of the deal is batteries, which Sunrun sells alongside solar panels.Vivint hasn't been as proactive at selling batteries to its nearly 200,000 customers, Jurich said, so if the two companies successfully merge, her company will have a massive sales opportunity.