SunEdison to Sell Some Assets to GCL-Poly Energy -- Update

By Chester Yung 

HONG KONG -- GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd., one of China's largest makers of solar equipment, on Sunday said it agreed to buy the solar materials assets of bankrupt U.S. renewable energy company SunEdison Inc. for $150 million.

The Hong Kong-listed company said the acquisition includes SunEdison's subsidiaries, which are SunEdison Products Singapore Pte., MEMC Pasadena Inc. and Solaicx Inc., as well as SunEdison's stake in a Korean joint venture, SMP Ltd. The acquisition excludes MEMC's manufacturing facility in Pasadena, Texas.

The sale of SunEdison's solar materials business is the latest in a series of transactions designed to raise money for creditors of the troubled company. NRG Energy Inc. has offered a starting bid of $144 million for a parcel of North American solar- and wind-power projects, while an affiliate of Edison International's SoCore Energy has offered nearly $80 million for a second parcel going on the auction block in September, a collection of 22 commercial and industrial projects under development in Minnesota.

Like the NRG and SoCore offers, GCL-Poly's offer will be tested at auction, according to bankruptcy-court filings.

The solar materials business auction is slated for October, assuming competing offers come in. SunEdison has been in talks with potential buyers of the solar materials business for six months, court papers say. Discussions with one prospective buyer of the solar materials business date back two years, as SunEdison deliberated exiting the business of making solar panels and solar energy materials to focus on developing projects, according to court filings.

The solar materials business involves the development and manufacture of solar panels and solar components, using proprietary SunEdison technology.

SunEdison sought chapter 11 protection in April amid legal and financial trouble. Company lawyers say it is exploring a reorganization, and it has been moving to sell off various alternative-energy projects it built or which are under development.

Earlier this month, SunEdison said it would seek bankruptcy-court approval to pay up to $5.1 million in bonuses to nine senior executives during its chapter 11 case. Many SunEdison leaders departed when the company's problems erupted, including former Chief Executive Ahmad Chatila.

Peg Brickley contributed to this article.

Write to Chester Yung at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 29, 2016 10:04 ET (14:04 GMT)

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