Solar PV maker SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) announced Thursday morning that it had voluntarily filed petitions for a Chapter 11 reorganization with the bankruptcy court for the southern district of New York. SunEdison’s publicly traded yieldcos, TerraForm Power Inc. (NASDAQ: TERP) and TerraForm Global Inc. (NASDAQ: GLBL) are not included in the filings.
The company said it has secured $300 million in debtor-in-possession financing from a consortium of first- and second-lien lenders. The financing will allow the company to continue work on ongoing projects both in the United States and abroad; to continue paying employees, providing services to customers, paying vendors and suppliers; and to meet the company’s regulatory obligations.
In an FAQ for shareholders, SunEdison said if the stock is delisted from the NYSE, shares would likely trade on the OTC Pink market. The company plans to continue filing required SEC reports as well as monthly reports required by the bankruptcy court. The company also notes that “anyone,” including shareholders, can file a proof of claim against SunEdison, but that those claims are only paid after secured and unsecured creditors have been “fully satisfied.” In other words, shareholders investments are gone.
Although SunEdison didn’t said so on Thursday, in the financing negotiations that took place last week the company was expected to pledge all its assets in exchange for $310 million in financing. It appears that creditors drove a tougher bargain.
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Ahmad Chatila, SunEdison’s CEO, said:
Our decision to initiate a court-supervised restructuring was a difficult but important step to address our immediate liquidity issues. The court process will allow us to right-size our balance sheet and reduce our debt, providing the opportunity to support the business going forward while focusing on our core strengths. It also will facilitate our continued work towards transforming the Company into a more streamlined and efficient operator, shedding non-core assets as well as taking other steps to help us get the most value out of our technological and intellectual property. As a result of this process, we expect that SunEdison will be in an even better position over the long term to utilize our capabilities in the renewable energy sector in service of our customers, business partners, and employees.
Chatila made our list of CEOs who have to go earlier this year, and pronouncements like this only reinforce how much he deserves to be there.
Shares traded at $0.34 on the New York Stock Exchange before being halted at 9:33 a.m. Thursday morning. The stock’s 52-range is $0.20 to $33.45.
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