SunEdison India sale said to draw Khazanah, Hindujas
Hinduja Group, the industrial conglomerate controlled by four billionaire brothers, and Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd. are among parties vying for SunEdison Inc.’s Indian solar assets, people familiar with the matter said. The Indian projects have also drawn interest from Mumbai-based Tata Power Co., domestic clean power developer Greenko Energies Pvt. and Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries Ltd., according to the people. A deal could value the operations at about $700 million including debt, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
SunEdison, which is credited with bringing Indian solar tariffs to a record low last year, bid aggressively to win contracts in the country during a $3.1 billion buying spree that left it overloaded with borrowings. The US clean-power giant filed for bankruptcy protection in April, listing $16.1 billion of debts. Suitors for the Indian assets of SunEdison haven’t made a final decision, and there’s no certainty the talks will result in a transaction, the people said. SunEdison could pick a winner in about a month, and may prefer bidders that already have a presence in India, according to one of the people.
A representative for Hinduja didn’t immediately respond to e-mailed queries. SunEdison Asia-Pacific President Pashupathy Gopalan and spokesmen for Khazanah and Sembcorp Industries declined to comment. A representative for Greenko said founder Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty wasn’t immediately available to comment. Tata Power said in an e-mailed statement it is “evaluating various options to create shareholder value,” declining to comment further.
Source: Livemint
