Solyndra lawyers say they received no bids for bankrupt company's assets

Houston (Platts)--17Nov2011/357 pm EST/2057 GMT

Lawyers representing bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra received "no acceptable turnkey bids" for the company's California plant by a late Wednesday deadline and have asked a US Bankruptcy Court to give them more time to find a buyer while allowing them to consider liquidating the factory, equipment and land.

In a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Solyndra's San Francisco-based lawyers said they received no acceptable bids by a 4 p.m. PST deadline Wednesday.

But the lawyers told the court that "parties continue to express interest" in buying the manufacturing facility on a turnkey basis, which would allow the plant to continue as an ongoing business. They added, however, that given the "complexity of the assets," the company believes "the prudent approach is to continue to allow parties to conduct diligence in connection with a possible turnkey sale while ... moving forward with an alternative auction process."

The lawyers asked the court to consider setting a new bid deadline of January 17.

If an extension is granted and still no acceptable bids are received, the filing said Solyndra's assets might then be sold through "an alternative auction process to be conducted in late January.

The attorneys said they would file another motion with the court detailing the alternative process.

Solyndra used $527 million it borrowed from the Treasury Department's Federal Financing Bank to build its estimated $733 million Fremont, California, facility to manufacture cylindrical photovoltaic solar tubes.

The proceeds from the asset sale are to be used to repay the company's partners and the government.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection September 6, and was hoping to sell its main asset quickly on a turnkey basis.

--Jeffrey Ryser, jeffrey_ryser@platts.com

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