China’s Runergy Bags RMB 900 Million Equity Investment From Suppliers

Chinese solar PV manufacturer Runergy has found some help coming in after its RMB 5 billion Tongwei deal for a 51% stake fell through. S.C New Energy and Autowell Technology are the 2 companies that have announced equity investments in Runergy by converting debt into equity.  

Solar equipment maker S.C New Energy is investing RMB 720 million ($99 million) in lieu of an 8.0899% stake in Runergy. Another automation equipment manufacturer Autowell Technology says it is investing RMB 180 million ($25 million) into equity to acquire a 2.0225% share in the Chinese PV manufacturer.

Both these investors are regular equipment suppliers to Runergy whose current valuation is RMB 8 billion ($1.1 billion). These investments are aimed at speeding up the company’s payment recovery, reducing bad debts, optimizing its financial structure, and helping it strengthen its relationship with its customers, stated the investors.

On its part, Runergy has committed to completing its IPO listing before the specified time. The company is said to have 130,000 tons of polysilicon, 63 GW of solar cell and 23 GW of module production capacity globally, including in China, Thailand and Vietnam. 

Earlier this month, Chinese major Tongwei terminated its plan to acquire Runergy, citing some commercial terms not being agreed upon. However, they plan to cooperate in the polysilicon business space (see Tongwei Terminates Plan To Acquire Chinese Solar Manufacturer Runergy).  

Following this, Runergy’s President Jun Tang resigned from his position for no specific reason. Tang reportedly told local media that he is currently ‘resting.’ He was previously a senior executive at EGing PV.