Sun finally shines on Suntech

Administrators appoint potential rescuer of failed solar power giant

The court-appointed administrators of solar power giant Wuxi Suntech Power Co Ltd have found a potential rescuer, Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd, the Wuxi municipal government said.

The court-appointed administrators picked the Hong Kong-listed Chinese solar manufacturer as the tentative strategic investor of Suntech, the news office of the Wuxi government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The other bidder, a consortium formed by China's top polysilicon producer, GCL-Poly Energy and Wuxi Guolian, the investment arm of the city government of Wuxi, was ruled out.

Details of the rescue plan haven't been formulated but it is known that Shunfeng has undertaken to make a "strategic" investment that would inject much-needed capital to keep Wuxi Suntech from going under.

Wuxi authorities said the administrators are cooperating with Shunfeng to draft a restructuring plan and would officially confirm the strategic investor after the plan is passed by creditors.

Wuxi Suntech used to be China's biggest solar panel manufacturer. It filed for bankruptcy protection in China in March, five days after its New York-listed parent company defaulted on a $541 million convertible bond.

In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday, Shunfeng said it had made a bid with the receiver of Wuxi Suntech on Tuesday for an equity stake in the unit as well as a proposal to restructure its $1.75 billion debt.

It made a 500 million yuan ($81.68 million) deposit for the bid, which is aimed at strengthening its solar cell and module manufacturing capabilities and aiding its diversification into the operation of solar power plants, Shunfeng said.

Other potential bidders including Suntech's rival Trina Solar Ltd and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co Ltd did not show up during Tuesday's bidding, while the consortium formed by GCL-Poly Energy and Wuxi Guolian attended the showdown.

Industry insiders said the move by Shunfeng would be a better resolution for Suntech, compared with being taken over by Trina or Yingli.

Shunfeng said in its filing that the group is "in the process of expanding into the construction and development of solar power stations". The possible acquisition is in line with the group's expansion strategy and will enable it to further strengthen its production capabilities of solar cells and modules, which in turn is expected to create synergies for the group's expansion into solar power station operations.

"The biggest difficulty faced by Suntech now is cash. It still has its advantages in technology and cost control. And Shunfeng is very experienced in capital operations and is now in need of a stable supply of upper-stream products," said Ren Haoning, an energy industry analyst with China Investment Consulting.

The failure of Suntech is largely down to its over-aggressive expansion. It had invested too much in purchasing silicon materials. The unexpected price collapse of silicon materials severely hit the company, said Simon Liu, an industry insider based in Shanghai.

Earlier reports said Wuxi Suntech had verified all debt claims filed by its creditors, including domestic banks and suppliers, and confirmed that its liabilities reached 10.7 billion yuan.