SunEdison to shed 198MW Japanese solar unit

BCPG Company (BCPG), a subsidiary of Thailand-listed oil and energy company Bangchak Petroleum (Bangchak), has acquired the entire solar power business of SunEdison in Japan for JPY9,626 million (€73.6 million; $80.3 million), according to a filing at the Stock Exchange of Thailand. 

The acquisition will be made through purchasing all shares in SunEdison Japan Corporation, SunEdison Japan Debt Financing and SunEdison TK Investor 1. 

The three SunEdison companies own a solar power portfolio of a combined capacity of 198 megawatts (MW), 13MW of which are operating. 27MW are under construction and 158MW are under development. 

The investment is part of BCPG’s efforts to gain a greater foothold in renewables so as to grow its assets and diversify risk. The transaction will be funded via the company’s working capital.

A first payment of no more than JPY4.14 billion, based on the valuation of projects, will made be upfront, while a second payment will be made based on the condition precedents for each individual asset. 

Bangchak recently agreed to acquire two or three more assets in the first half of 2016, all of which are in the renewable energy sector, according to local reports. BCPG is now running a solar portfolio across Thailand with a combined capacity of 118MW. 

SunEdison, one of the world’s largest renewable developers, is currently working on closing its $1.9 billion purchase of solar installer Vivint Solar from Blackstone Group and buying some of the company’s rooftop solar assets. 

It is said to be evaluating various options for closing the deal while seeking another buyer for the rooftop portfolio. 

“This deal has the potential to be the undoing of SunEdison,” Angelo Zino, an analyst at S&P Capital IQ, recently said in an interview with Bloomberg Business. “Clearly, they’re under financial distress.”

New York-listed SunEdison’s shares have slumped over 90 percent in the past nine months. They were valued at $2.79 prior to Tuesday’s close.