SunEdison Inc. won final approval for a bankruptcy plan that will leave what was once the world’s largest renewable-energy firm as a shell of its former self, with nothing for shareholders whose investment at one point had been worth about $10 billion, Bloomberg reported yesterday. SunEdison, known for gobbling up other companies and expanding at breakneck speed, will now exit chapter 11 to “continue business operations to administer and maximize the value of the company’s remaining assets,” including intellectual property and fixtures. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein’s approval of the reorganization plan came as he overruled remaining objections from shareholders as well as two investors who had opposed the company’s exit financing. He noted that many shareholders had emailed him to object to the plan, and that he would issue a written ruling explaining his decision to approve the reorganization in despite of their protests. Judge Bernstein said there was no evidence of bad faith in the negotiation of exit financing, as had been alleged by CNH Partners LLC and AQR Capital Management LLC, holders of second-lien debt. Left out of the exit financing, they had alleged that the company had essentially bought the votes of other second-lien creditors that had agreed to fund it in exchange for stock in the reorganized company. The case is In re SunEdison Inc., 16-10992, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York. The shareholder lawsuits are 16-02742, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
