Elon Musk's electric car and battery company Tesla has made an offer to buy SolarCity, a solar technology firm that's also owned by the billionaire.
Elon Musk, the largest shareholder in both companies, described the deal was a "no brainer". The deal may be worth as much as $2.8 billion (£1.91bn).
Elon Musk, the largest shareholder in both of the organisations, CEO of Tesla, and chairman of SolarCity, said the would allow customers from one arm of a potentially merged company to easily access products from the other.
In theory, a person who gets the renewable energy firm to install a solar power system in their home could then charge their electric vehicle, or home battery kit, purchased from the other company.
"Instead of making three trips to a house to put in a car charger and solar panels and battery pack, you can integrate that into a single visit," Musk told Reuters.
"It's an obvious thing to do."
But the proposed deal has had a mixed response from investors as Tesla shares fell ten per cent in extended training. Shares in SolarCity rose by 23 per cent.
According to the New York Times SolarCity has a $2.6bn (£1.77bn) long-term debt and growing losses.
Shares of the energy company have fallen 63 per cent in the last year and used up $790 million of cash in 2015.
Tesla is currently riding a bigger wave after the launch and pre-sales of its Model 3 electric vehicle. In April, the company said it has received almost 400,000 pre-orders for the car, which will go on sale in 2017.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
