Rules for September auctions that promise to add $224 million or more to the coffers of bankrupt solar power developer SunEdison Inc. won approval from Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Judge Bernstein signed off on the bidding rules for two parcels of alternative energy projects SunEdison was developing when it foundered amid legal and financial trouble and landed in bankruptcy at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Company lawyers have said that they’re still pondering a reorganization of the beleaguered company, which faces federal investigations into its financial affairs and multiple lawsuits. Meanwhile, SunEdison has put the alternative-energy projects that were in the pipeline at the time of its April bankruptcy petition on the auction block. Read more. (Subscription required.)
In related news, Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein held off ruling on whether Vivint Solar Inc. can proceed with its $1 billion lawsuit over a failed merger with bankrupt SunEdison Inc. because the two companies can’t agree on a timetable for the litigation, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Judge Bernstein ended a hearing yesterday without deciding whether to lift the “automatic stay” that shields bankrupt companies like SunEdison from lawsuits. SunEdison has said that while the dispute needs to be worked out, it’s too early in the chapter 11 process to litigate the claim. Steven Schatz, a lawyer for Vivint, told the judge the two sides were still haggling over how soon a trial might occur. The suit itself is in Delaware Chancery Court. “We thought we were close,” he told Bernstein. “Frankly, at best, we’re no closer. Maybe further apart.” Bernstein could issue a ruling in a court filing later. Read more.
