bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Suntech Power Holdings, the largest Chinese solar-cell maker by market value, said it planned to raise US$300 million by selling convertible bonds to help fund capacity expansion and refinance a loan.

The bonds, which are due 2012, could be swapped into cash, the firm's American depositary shares or a combination of both, Suntech said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Suntech said it would use US$100 million of sale proceeds to expand production lines for photovoltaic cells and modules and US$50 million to buy raw materials.

Another US$100 million would repay a one-year bridge loan it borrowed last year for the acquisition of MSK Corp, a Japanese firm that makes photovoltaic modules that convert sunlight into electricity. The rest would be used for general corporate purposes.

Shares of Wuxi-based Suntech rose 0.08 per cent to US$39.58 on Tuesday in the New York Stock Exchange. The stock fell 6.5 per cent over the past 12 months but has risen 16.4 per cent so far this year.

Mainland solar power firms are tapping the US capital markets to expand as demand for alternative energy  rises amid high oil prices.

JA Solar Holdings is seeking US$225 million from a Nasdaq initial public offering, while Trina Solar and Solarfun Power Holdings offered shares in the US in December.

JA Solar priced its 15 million ADS at US$15 per share, above a forecast range  of US$12.50 to US$14.50.

Analysts said the alternative energy sector was in the  early stages of the capital cycle and the influx of investment into the sector would not dry up as it did in the 1970s once the price of oil started dropping.

However, solar-cell makers have been constrained by the scarcity and rising cost of its primary raw material, silicon wafters.  A silicon shortage  up to 2010 is eating into solar-cell makers' profit. Some analysts said by 2013 the cost of building solar energy panels would equal the cost of traditional electricity.



Suntech Power bond  sale targets US$300m