Turbine manufacturer Suzlon has completed debt restructuring with the unanimous approval of its secured lenders.
The company said the term debt is reduced substantially with interest of 9% a year repayable over 10 years starting today.
It added that the balance debt of secured consortium lenders has been replaced by 0.01% optionally convertible debenture of the company and 0.0001% compulsorily convertible preference shares of its subsidiary redeemable or convertible in 20 years.
Suzlon founder and chairman Tulsi Tanti said: “Consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India and the company have worked together to protect the interests of all the stakeholders involved, thereby protecting the Indian wind energy sector, saving thousands of direct and indirect jobs, ensuring the survival of large number of MSME vendors and protecting about 13GW of operating wind energy assets of the nation.
“This initiative takes us a step forward to stay Atmanirbhar in manufacturing of wind turbines and its components, making India the supply chain hub for the global wind sector.
“We sincerely appreciate the support of all the lenders led by SBI, FCCB holders, our shareholders, vendors, customers and Suzlon family for their unwavering trust and confidence in the company in challenging times and during the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis.”
Suzlon Group chief executive JP Chalasani said: “We are pleased to have implemented our debt restructuring with unanimous approval from the consortium lenders and 99.9% of our FCCB holders.
“Capital infusion of Rs392 crores by promoters, key shareholder and various stakeholders demonstrates their commitment and confidence in Suzlon.
“The wind energy sector in India is at an inflection point and our debt restructuring has resulted in a stronger balance sheet enabling the company to focus on capturing the tremendous growth potential in the Indian wind energy sector.”
Suzlon chief financial officer Swapnil Jain said: “This debt restructuring will ease the pressure on our cash flows significantly and give us headroom for ramping up business operations.
“We have reduced our fixed cost steeply and brought down the interest costs by more than 70%.
“This has resulted in substantial reduction in the break-even point from pre-restructuring levels ensuring a long term sustainable business case.
“It improves our overall competitiveness in the market place and now Suzlon is back to business from a position of strength.”