Suzlon Energy has raised around ₹500 crore from the sale of its US company Big Sky Wind Farm to EverPower Wind Holdings, Chairman and Managing Director Tulsi Tanti said on Thursday.

The sale is part of the wind turbine maker’s plan to divest non-core assets to pare debt. A few Indian assets are also to be sold to mop up around ₹1,000 crore more, Tanti told reporters here. Next in the line would be its non-operating assets in Puducherry and Vadodara.

“In the next six months, we would have balance sheet restructured by increasing capital and cutting the overall debt, which now stands at around 14,000 crore,” he said. Tanti added the recent €850-million (₹7,100-crore today) refinancing deal for Senvion SE (formerly REpower Systems), its German subsidiary, was for the company’s working capital requirement.

The rupee depreciation has improved the financials of Suzlon. Seventy per cent of the 2013-14 revenue would come from exports, he said. There was a significant pick-up in demand in the fourth quarter. The current order book of the Suzlon group stands at $8 billion, Tanti added. Meanwhile, the wind power company has settled the problem over repayment and will renew foreign currency convertible bonds worth ₹3,000 crore soon, said sources. “In a month’s time, we would announce the re-issuance of FCCBs, which are due for repayment. There will be four series of such bonds,” said an insider.

Suzlon could not repay a part of FCCBs in 2012. After protracted negotiations with the bond-holders, the company has got a breakthrough by way of this “renewal” of FCCBs with certain altered terms and tenure.

comment COMMENT NOW