LDK Solar’s Cayman Island liquidators with the support of two major investors are attempting to start restructuring proceedings in Hong Kong of LDK Solar’s key asset, its polysilicon production operations, LDK Silicon & Chemical Technology Co.
The joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) have agreed to a new executive committee structure for LDK Solar since Xiaofeng Peng the founder and chairman of the company, stepped down from his roles.
Current president and CEO, Xingxue Tong has assumed the Interim Chairman position with two other existing members of the Board supervising restructuring, including Zhibin Liu a director of Heng Rui Xin Energy, a major shareholder and an affiliate of the Xinyu City government where key facilities of LDK Solar exist and Shi Chen a member of the Board nominated by Fulai Investments, owned by Hong Kong-based property tycoon Zheng Jianming and owner of Shunfeng and Wuxi Suntech.
According to the JPLs, the plan is to convene meetings of the polysilicon arm’s creditors after the first hearing before the Hong Kong Court on restructuring.
Key creditors of LDK Silicon include, China Development Bank Capital Corporation, two investment funds affiliated with China Construction Bank, which were originally attracted to invest in LDK Solar by former chairman Peng on the understanding the polysilicon arm would be floated in an IPO. Due to LDK Solar’s precarious financial position less than a year later the IPO never took place and the polysilicon plants were shuttered in 2012.
The move to obtain a creditor deal is seen as a precursor to re-starting polysilicon production at LDK Silicon’s two plants that could supply low-cost stable supply to LDK Solar’s wafer operations and crucially to Shunfeng’s Wuxi Suntech, completing a fully-integrated supply chain.
The JPLs are seeking orders to convene meetings with creditors around October 16, 2014.
