Greenko closes in on SunEdison India assets

Valuation of deal estimated to be Rs 7,500 crore; talks also on with Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries

Hyderabad-based Greenko Group, backed by GIC Singapore, is leading the race to buy renewable energy projects of SunEdison in India, in a deal that is estimated at Rs 7,500 crore.

SunEdison India’s portfolio includes 410 megawatt (Mw) of operational solar power projects, 80 Mw of wind projects and upcoming 1,000 Mw of solar power projects, including a 500 Mw project in Andhra Pradesh it won at the historic low bid of Rs 4.63 per unit.

Facing debts globally, SunEdison filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in April. The company is trying to sell its Indian assets and a deal with Macquarie Capital fell through earlier this year.

Tata Power, Adani Power and the Sumant Sinha-promoted ReNew Power were also in talks for buying the projects. Adani Power and ReNew Power dropped out later. Tata Power is also learnt to be not keen after it bought Welspun Renewables.

Some market sources said talks were going on with Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries as well. Sembcorp has a 60 per cent stake in IDFC Alternatives’ renewable energy arm Green Infra, which it bought for $227 million last year.

“Global investors are interested in the projects of SunEdison. The company has a healthy pipeline of upcoming projects. These are promising for companies that want to enter or expand in the Indian solar energy market,” said an analyst.

Pashupathy Gopalan, president, SunEdison Asia Pacific, said he could not deny or confirm the development. Mahesh Kolli, co-founder, president and joint managing director of the Greenko Group, said he was not in a position to comment on the matter because of company policy. The Greenko Group was founded by Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli in 2006.

It raised close $230 million from the GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Firm in June. GIC had earlier invested $80 million in Greenko, making it the largest investor with close to a 60 per cent stake, company executives said. Another 15 per cent is held by the Abu Dhabi Investment Firm. The balance is with the two founders.

Greenko has an operational capacity of 715 Mw, of which 235 Mw is hydropower and 400 Mw wind power. The company has no solar power project in the country. This is being indicated as the reason for its interest in SunEdison.SunEdison has projects in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Jharkhand.

The company has committed to developing 15 gigawatt of renewable energy projects in India. SunEdison India sold 425 Mw of solar power projects to TerraForm Global for $231 million in December 2015. The stock of TerraForm, which was seen as a perennial asset to fund SunEdison’s acquisitions, has been hammered down on the threat of SunEdison’s rising debts.