SunEdison (SUNEQ) is Enron-Like as Shareholder Group Fights Back
By Edward Kim
May 1, 2017
•3 min read
On March 28, 2017, SunEdison (SUNEQ) filed its plan of reorganization and announced its intention to eliminate all of its existing equity interests. That means that SUNE shareholders – including more than 7,000 employees, stock owners and asset managers around the country – are teetering on the brink of losing 100% of their investments.
As part of this plan, SunEd also recently announced the proposed sale of its interest in the YieldCo’s – Terraform Global (NASDQ: GLBL) and Terraform Power (NASDQ: TERP) – to Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM). Insiders have described the BAM transaction as a “sweetheart deal” in line with company’s conduct for the past year – namely, shedding its assets at fire sale prices under the protection of chapter 11. A group of 1,000 SunEd shareholders have joined together to take a stand – and have hired lawyers and financial advisors to fight the plan and the sale to BAM.
Jordan Danelz, chair of the SunEd shareholder group says, “No independent third party was ever appointed by the court to figure out what happened to our investments. A year has gone by since SunEdison entered bankruptcy – and we’ve been in the dark that entire time.” Danelz added, “The case has reached a critical juncture. I cannot over-emphasize the importance that shareholders act as a unified group to bring weight to the pending Court proceedings. There are no guarantees of a successful outcome, but two things are absolutely certain: we will lose everything if we don’t act right now, and we can’t do it alone.”
For those new to the story, when the Obama Administration settled into office, members of the administration and those close to the President orchestrated billions in taxpayer dollars and incentives into SunEdison (SUNEQ) and its subsidiaries only to see it all melt in bankruptcy. The reason has little to do with the potential of clean energy and solely to do with corruption and collusion. Many newspapers, websites and blogs have lamented the vaulting ambition of SunEdison, but few have gotten right the orchestrated liquidation of assets that only lined the pockets of the wealthy and well-connected, while the shareholders are kept out of the court room.
In 2015, SunEdison bought a sagging heap of wind turbines called First Wind. First Wind received $778 million in taxpayer dollars at the guidance of CEO Paul Gaynor, a former Enron executive. First Wind has already proven adept at gaining favor in local policy. The company did this in Maine when they added Chief Utilities Regulator Kurt Adams, to the payroll (Adams received $1.3 million in compensation) via Bangor Daily News. First Wind was accustomed at using government insiders to gain special treatment.
Individuals who own SunEdison stock are encouraged to visit the SUNEQ Equity shareholder portal www.suneq-equity.com to learn more about what actions they can take and needed contributions they can make to preserve their investments in SunEd.
To contact this shareholder group by email use [email protected]
To contact by phone use 415.568.5094
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