Tag Archives: SQN Financial

Creditors Spar In Court Over Suniva Solar Cell Production Assets (Full Complaint Attached)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

You had to know Suniva would come to this, right? Nothing – and I mean nothing – has come easy with this company.

First, it filed a trade complaint, only to get bigfooted to almost an afterthought on its own complaint by its “co-petitioner” SolarWorld. Then it won the case, which led to SolarWorld being purchased by competitor SunPower and Suniva to be…sold for parts.

But now that we had finally moved on to the selling off of assets, even THAT can’t go smoothly for the poor bankrupt module manufacturer. Now two of its creditors are fighting over the production equipment, with one accusing the other of being in the pocket of Canadian Solar and trying to kill the competition (ignoring the obvious fact that Suniva hasn’t produced panel in at least two years).

Will those poor Suniva folks ever catch a break?

[wds id=”3″]

SQN Financial, the creditor that once offered to sell out Suniva’s trade case for $55 million to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, has filed a complaint with the bankruptcy court that is overseeing Suniva’s dismantling accusing Lions Point, another Suniva creditor, of trying to force SQN to remove the solar cell production equipment from the company’s former Norcross factory. SQN argues that moving the equipment out of the factory would immediately devalue it (think of the devaluation of driving a new car off the lot) and force SQN to sell the equipment for far less than it is actually worth (in their estimation).

But the most interesting part of the complaint (which you can read below) is the section where SQN explains why IT thinks Lions Point is demanding the equipment be moved. It claims that Lions Point owns a stake in Canadian Solar, a Chinese module manufacturer, that is seven times more valuable than their stake in Suniva. They write in the complaint:

To be sure, according to Lion Point’s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Lion Point owns approximately 1,920,085 shares in Canadian Solar—one of the three largest solar companies in the world by revenue—that are valued at approximately $31,239,000(US) and constitutes Lion Point’s fifth largest equity holding. Lion Point also has an outstanding loan to Canadian Solar of approximately $14,341,000(US). Lion Point’s $45 million investment in Canadian Solar stands in stark contrast to its approximately $6 million investment in the Debtor [Editor’s note: Suniva].

As we said, we’re not sure how they can argue Suniva competes with Canadian Solar, given that Suniva hasn’t produced a module in more than two years. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter – the case continues to drag on, leaving scars on Suniva’s former employees that will never fully heal. And that’s a damn shame.

SQNComplaint

Could We Finally Be Rid Of Suniva?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened:Remember Suniva? The company whose bankruptcy last April set off the swirling cesspool that became the solar tariffs this January? Well, there have been some interesting developments with its bankruptcy lately, to wit:

  • The company’s biggest creditor, SQN Financial, has asked the judge to extend its exclusive right to Suniva’s assets, and
  • the reasons they give could be an indication that the creditor is close to negotiating a final dissolution of the company.
  • It should be noted that SQN tried to dump Suniva one month into their bankruptcy to make the tariff case go away, requesting a $55 million payment from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to make Suniva disappear. Think of all the headaches that could have been saved if only SQN had thrown a 6th Round draft pick into the deal.

SolarWakeup’s View:  Will no one rid me of this troublesome solar company? Well, hold on, folks, because there could be a deal in the works to rid the solar industry of Suniva for good.

In the last year, I’ve become far too adept at reading solar companies’ bankruptcy filings, but when someone suggested I look at Suniva’s filings again, I thought, “Do I have to?” It’s not an overstatement to say I’m so sick of talking about Suniva I can’t even with this.

[wds id=”3″]

But I pulled myself together and dived back into the muck of Suniva’s bankruptcy and found a few interesting notes I think may mean our long national nightmare could soon be over.

A flurry of filings by the bankrupt module manufacturer’s biggest creditor (and all around bad actor in this tariff drama) indicate they are trying to procure a clean title for all of the former company’s assets because they have had, according to the filings, multiple companies inquire about purchasing them. SQN, however, doesn’t currently have a clean title to the assets, which makes negotiating a final purchase…difficult to say the least.

I checked again this morning and there doesn’t seem to have been activity since last week. But I think the filings bear watching – Suniva might be no more very soon.

(It should, of course, be noted that if Suniva is sold as it appears increasingly likely it will, it means almost the entirety of the whole stupid, idiotic tariff decision was for naught. After all, wasn’t the whole craven thing an attempt to save THIS company’s skin? You know what? I was right…..I can’t even with this.)

More:

The Section 201 Trade Case: Suniva’s Tangled Web (Renewable Energy World)

The Section 201 Trade Case, Part II: In the Hands of DIPs (Renewable Energy World)

The Section 201 Trade Case, Part III: Will Any Americans Benefit? (Renewable Energy World)

As They Sowed, So Shall We Reap (SolarWakeup)

Bonus:

Have some Peter O’Toole, will you?