Investors in China solar energy firms feeling the heat

Singapore

THE woes of Chinese solar players, as exemplified by the domestic bond default by Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy yesterday, are not unfamiliar to the Singapore market where another solar player recently had the trading of its American depository receipts (ADRs) suspended.

Wuxi-based Suntech Power, once the world's largest supplier of solar panels and which trades ADRs here and in the US, has begun restructuring under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, following a default of US-denominated convertible bonds worth US$541 million. Being under Chapter 15 allows a company to stay actions brought by creditors in the US while it undergoes restructuring by provisional liquidators appointed by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.