DR NEWS
Pune, India-based Suzlon Energy, the world’s fifth-largest maker of wind turbines, said it received approval from Indian regulatory authorities to raise up to $370 million through the issuance of depositary receipts overseas. The company has not yet decided whether to issue American depositary receipts (ADRs) or global depositary receipts (GDRs).
Suzlon received approval from the Indian government to raise its foreign ownership share to 25.25% from 20.76%. The DR issue would take the place of a rights issue that Suzlon canceled last October due to unfavorable market conditions.
The company has been evaluating funding options to raise its controlling stake in German subsidiary REpower after it agreed in January to a revised payment schedule to purchase a 22.4% stake in REpower from Portugal-based Martifer.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, Suzlon was hit by foreign exchange losses due to the volatile rupee, as well as payments to replace cracked wind-turbine rotor blades. It reported a loss of $12 million for the quarter, although revenue more than doubled from the same period a year earlier.
“The long-term fundamentals of the wind industry remain strong,” says Tulsi Tanti, chairman of Suzlon. “We see an upswing in the industry’s growth from 2010.” Suzlon operates in 20 countries and is developing Asia’s largest wind farm in Dhule, Maharashtra, in northwestern India. Suzlon Rotor, the company’s US subsidiary, makes wind-turbine blades and nose cones in Pipestone, Minnesota.
Gordon Platt