D.E. Shaw set to enter race for SunEdison's TerraForm Power-sources

AlTi Global

29/08/2016 24:19

By Jessica DiNapoli 
    Aug 28 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager D.E. Shaw & Co LP is 
weighing a bid for SunEdison Inc's  SUNEQ.PK  controlling stake 
in TerraForm Power Inc  TERP.O , the bankrupt U.S. renewable 
energy producer's most valuable asset, according to people 
familiar with the matter. 
    D.E. Shaw's emergence as a possible bidder for TerraForm 
Power indicates that the potential sale process for the 
so-called "Class B" shares of TerraForm Power, which was formed 
by SunEdison to buy and operate its solar and wind power plants, 
is likely to be competitive. 
    Another hedge fund, Appaloosa Management LP, and asset 
manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc  BAMa.TO , have already 
announced plans to jointly bid on SunEdison's TerraForm Power 
Class B shares.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1AB3HF  
    D.E. Shaw's bid preparations have not been finalized and 
there is no certainty its bid will materialize, the people said. 
Spokespeople for SunEdison and TerraForm Power declined to 
comment. D.E. Shaw did not respond to a request for comment.  
    D.E. Shaw and its affiliates already own some of the 
publicly traded common shares of TerraForm Power. They received 
them in an agreement announced last year after forgiving debt 
owed by SunEdison, regulatory filings show. 
    D.E. Shaw said in a filing last week that it owned 6.7 
percent of TerraForm Power's common shares, and added that it 
could participate in transactions that could result in a change 
of control or take-private transaction involving TerraForm 
Power. It did not however provide specific details. 
    Appaloosa and Brookfield also own some common shares in 
TerraForm Power. An affiliate of D.E. Shaw received court 
approval last month to buy a solar project of SunEdison's. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N19S1X4 
     While accounting for only 35 percent of the total shares 
outstanding, the Class B shares in TerraForm Power that 
SunEdison owns correspond to about 84 percent of the voting 
rights in TerraForm Power.  
    Once the fastest-growing U.S. renewable energy company, 
SunEdison filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 
after a short-lived but aggressive binge of debt-fueled 
acquisitions proved unsustainable.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N17B0J1 
    Since then, SunEdison has been selling off assets piecemeal 
as it decides which path its reorganization will take. It has 
not yet asked for court approval of a sale process for its stake 
in TerraForm Power, and referenced reorganizing around the 
shares as an option in a filing last week. 
    TerraForm Power, which has a market capitalization of $1.7 
billion, is one of the two so-called "yield cos" that SunEdison 
has said it was exploring selling its stakes in. SunEdison is 
also considering selling its shares in TerraForm Global 
 GLBL.O , which has a market capitalization of $630 million. 
    Bloomberg News reported last week, citing anonymous sources, 
that Golden Concord Holdings Ltd, a Chinese clean energy 
company, was also planning to bid for SunEdison's controlling 
stake in TerraForm Power. 
 
 (Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Alan 
Crosby) 
 ((Jessica.DiNapoli@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-4678;)) 
 
Keywords: TERRAFORMPOWER M&A/DESHAW