Suzlon repays $350 million of acquisition loan in $780 million debt recast

Wind Turbine maker Suzlon Energy has rescheduled $780 million (Rs3,700 crore) of acquisition loan in a debt recast. The company also reduced its debt burden by $350 million (Rs1,700 crore) in the process.

Suzlon used part of the proceeds from sale of stake in Hansen Transmissions last month ($370 million) and a fresh dollar denominated refinance of $465 million from the State Bank of India to repay the debt.

The new five-year $456 million loan raised from the SBI has a two-year moratorium on repayment of principal as well as two-year holiday on debt covenants, Suzlon said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Suzlon's indirect subsidiary in the Netherlands, AE-Rotor Holding BV, last month sold 35-per cent equity in Belgium's Hansen Transmissions to private equity investors.

The payment was made from proceeds of a partial stake sale in Hansen Transmissions International NV, in addition to a new five-year US dollar denominated loan of $465 million (around Rs2,190 crore) from State Bank of India.

Suzlon Energy had a 61 per cent stake in Hansen through AE-Rotor Holding. At the current value of the shares, the sale of stake in Hansen is expected to have fetched Suzlon around 272 million pounds ($440 million). (See: Suzlon arm to sell 35 per cent in Netherlands's Hansen Transmissions)