India-based wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Group has initiated discussions with its senior secured lenders and plans to restructure its debt with a maturity period of 10 years under the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) mechanism, including a two-year moratorium on principal-and-interest payments on term debt.
‘The company has, in consultation with its senior secured lenders, taken the decision to undertake a debt-restructuring exercise under the CDR mechanism,’ says Kirti Vagadia, Suzlon's chief financial officer. ‘Our senior secured lenders are supportive of our long-term business plans and our efforts to consolidate our overall debt to achieve a sustainable capital structure.
"Considering our overall business outlook, we recognize that despite strong business fundamentals and a $7.2 billion order book, liquidity constraints over the first half of the fiscal, a volatile market environment and the timeline of the CDR process will continue to impact performance," Vagadia continues. "Taking this into account, the management team has decided to suspend guidance for the current fiscal; however, we remain confident of the company's performance over the mid-term and of returning the business to a position of strength."
