Suntech Signs Restructuring Support Agreement; To File For Bankruptcy Protection

(RTTNews) - Suntech Power Holdings (STP), announced that it has signed Restructuring Support Agreement or RSA relating to the petition for involuntary bankruptcy filed against it under chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to the agreement signed by the petitioners for the chapter 7 proceeding, the Company, the joint provisional liquidators of the Company, and certain supporting holders of the Company's 3% Convertible Senior Notes that include members of the Company's creditor working group, the chapter 7 proceedings in the U.S. have been stayed and a stipulation for the dismissal of the chapter 7 proceedings will be executed and filed following recognition of the provisional liquidation proceeding previously filed by the Company in the Cayman Islands under chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Suntech Power , which was defaulted on the payment of a $541 million dollar-denominated bond in March, and financial professionals in the Cayman Islands, plans to file for protection under Chapter 15, the section of the Bankruptcy Code that deals with international insolvencies.

The JPLs or joint provisional liquidators, on behalf of the Company, will use commercially reasonable efforts to file the chapter 15 petition by February 21, 2014. The RSA may be terminated if the Company fails to file the chapter 15 petition by February 21, 2014, an order obtaining recognition of the Cayman Islands restructuring proceeding is not entered by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court by May 31, 2014, or the Cayman Islands restructuring is not approved by December 31, 2014.