Suzlon Energy Falls 9% On Defaulting Bond Payments Worth $172 Million

Suzlon Energy Ltd on Tuesday said that it has failed to make a payment of principal amount of $172 million in foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) to its bondholders. The payment was due on 16 July.

In its stock exchange filing, the company said that the outstanding payment was part of a total bond issuance of $546.91 million.

The wind energy company had restructured its bonds worth $485 million in 2014 that were initially due for repayment between 2012 and 2016. These were then valued at $546.91 million at the time.

"The company is working on a holistic solution for its debt and continues to be in discussions with various stakeholders in relation to its outstanding debt (including the bonds)," Suzlon said.

A Business Standard report citing sources said that the company was in talks with Canadian asset manager, Brookfield Asset Management Inc for a stake sale.

In 2015, billionaire and founder of Sun Pharma, Dilip Shanghvi, had invested Rs 1,800 crore in Suzlon for a 23 percent stake, in hopes to turn around the troubled wind energy company.

Shares of Suzlon Energy saw a sharp decline of 9 percent to Rs 4.25 apiece. The stock was trading 3.23 percent lower than the previous close at Rs 4.50 apiece on NSE at around 11 am. On Tuesday, it close 3.11 percent lower at Rs 4.67.