The High Court of Madras has restrained the Chief Restructuring Officer of SunEdison from selling stakes in three subsidiaries of SunEdison, which owns 90 MW of solar power plants in Karnataka. This was in a suit filed by Chennai-based solar EPC company, Refex Energy Ltd, to whom SunEdison owes money. SunEdison, the US-based renewable energy major, filed for bankruptcy in March, sending shock waves through the renewable energy industry globally. In India, the company has about 850 MW of operating assets (mostly solar), and another 1,100 MW of solar plants under construction.
After the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the creditors appointed a Chief Restructuring Officer, John Dubel, to restructure the company and pay off the creditors, by selling the assets of the company if required. CRO Dubel is talking to a few companies that are interested in buying SunEdison’s India assets, and the Hyderabad-based Greenko is said to be leading the pack and SunEdison’s 2 GW-odd assets might well to go to it.
By a complex structure of holding, SunEdison’s Indian assets are held by a company incorporated in The Netherlands, called Sune Solar B.V. SunEdison India owes money to Refex Energy, which builds solar plants for others. Refex Energy built three plants for SunEdison in Karnataka, 30 MW each. Under the power purchase agreement between SunEdison and the electricity distribution utility of Karnataka, only 49 per cent stake can be sold anyway. Refex Energy petitioned the High Court of Madras praying that it be paid first before the assets are sold. On Friday, the Court passed an order of interim injunction, restraining the CRO from selling 24 per cent stake in the three project companies, for a period of four weeks (up to August 26).
Source: Thehindubusinessline
