Bankrupt Solyndra seeks $1.5 billion in damages from Chinese peers

[formercia]

Source: Yahoo Finance



Reuters – 10 hours ago


By Thyagaraju Adinarayan
(Reuters) - Bankrupt solar firm Solyndra has filed a lawsuit against three U.S.-listed Chinese solar players, including Suntech Power Holdings Co (STP), seeking $1.5 billion in compensation due to monopolization by these firms, according to court documents filed on Thursday.
The lawsuit was filed against Suntech, Trina Solar Ltd (TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co (YGE) claiming that the trio's panel prices moved in tandem - falling 75 percent in four years in the U.S.
Solyndra, which claims in the lawsuit that the trio were involved in predatory pricing and price fixing, filed for bankruptcy a year ago as it could no longer compete with plunging prices of solar panels imported from China.
U.S. solar companies launched a complaint last year alleging protectionism from Beijing for Chinese panel makers, sparking trade disputes between the two countries.




Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bankrupt-solyndra-seeks-1-5-014000505.html

---

I wonder if Bain Capital has any connection to these Chinese companies. The Romney campaign seems to be very focused on Solyndra.

[Wernothelpless]

1. Note to Solyndra ...

We have a [predatory world wide casino economy ... banks, oil companies, wall street, precious metals ... you pick .... price fixing is business as usual ... I can't see this going anywhere ...

[farmbo]

11. Oh really? This case is big trouble for the Chinese cheaters

This case was brought by the bankruptcy trustee as an Adversary Proceeding in the US Bankruptcy Court (Northern District of California). The Chinese companies have submitted themselves to our jurisdiction by coming into the US stock market to raise money for their scheme. They essentially cornered the US solar panel market in 2011, in violation of US law.

It wont be decided by some unaccountable international trade panel but by a US Bankruptcy Judge, based on US Bankruptcy law, which does provide remedies for debtors like Solyndra who were driven into bankruptcy through illegal conduct.

If a judgment is eventually rendered against them they will either have to pay it or discontinue operations in the US-- and face execution on their bank accounts.

Bottom line: the US Department of Energy will probably get its $550 million back with interest.

[Wernothelpless]

14. It would set an interesting precedent here in the US ...

Would it not? ... one under which many others could be prosecuted ...

[dipsydoodle]

2. If the prices fell 75 percent in four years in the U.S.

then surely the beneficiaries were consumers.

[christx30]

3. I'm pretty sure

The plan from the Chinese companies was to squeeze competing firms out of the business and then jack up the prices once they were the only game in town. They were NOT thinking about consumers.

[dipsydoodle]

5. In which case

it shouldn't be too difficult to prove the Chinese were selling below cost. In the absense of that I don't really see the case having any merit.

[AdHocSolver]

15. Corporations don't sell below cost to benefit consumers.

They sell below cost to drive competitors out of business so as to create a monopoly situation in which they can then raise prices, and therefore profits, to record levels.

Monopolies can also cheapen product quality as they raise prices once they become the only game in town.

There is also the matter of collusion by corporations to fix prices which is against antitrust laws.

(Antitrust laws...what a quaint idea.)

There are only two ways in which capitalism can be made to work for the public benefit: when there is authentic competition and, in those cases where competition won't work, as in the case of public utilities, government regulation designed to protect the public from predatory business practices.

[woodsprite]

4. Hmmmm, looks like it might have some connection.

According to Bloomsberg, for Yingli Green Energy Hold-Adr (YGE:New York):

Board members affiliated with Zhongwei Li (Chief Fin Officer):
Jia Zhu, Managing Director, Bain Capital Private Equity

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=25392745&privcapId=30589163&previousCapId=34333325&previousTitle=YINGLI%20GREEN%20ENERGY%20HOLD-ADR

[formercia]

6. Romney doth protest too much, Methinks

Look over there Move along. Nothing to see here.

[formercia]

7. More connections

http://ir.youku.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=241246&p=irol-govBoard_pf

Victor Wing Cheung Koo
Chairman of the Board of Directors

Victor Wing Cheung Koo is the founder of our company. Mr. Koo has served as the chairman of our board of directors and chief executive officer since our inception in September 2005. He has over 12 years of experience in Internet and media-related industries in China. From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Koo worked at Sohu, China's leading Internet portal that is listed on the NASDAQ. Mr. Koo served in various positions at Sohu, including as president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, helping to grow Sohu from an early-stage company to a listed Internet media property in China. Prior to joining Sohu, Mr. Koo held various senior positions in Richina Capital Partners Limited, a China-based private equity firm from 1994 to 1999, including vice president and director of business development. Prior to that, Mr. Koo worked at Procter & Gamble Co. in Hong Kong in 1993 and Bain & Company in San Francisco from 1989 to 1992. Mr. Koo received a MBA degree from Stanford University and was a Regents' Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a bachelor's degree.

--snip--








Jonathan Jia Zhu
Independent Director

Jonathan Jia Zhu has served as our director since 2007. Mr. Zhu has served as the managing director of Bain Capital Asia LLC, or Bain Capital, since 2006, where he is responsible for private equity investment activities in Asia and serves on the boards of Bain Capital's various portfolio companies, including SinoMedia Holding Limited and GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Limited, both of which are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Prior to joining Bain Capital, Mr. Zhu worked at Morgan Stanley Asia Limited from 1995 to 2006, where he became managing director in 2000 and chief executive officer of China business in 2004. Before joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Zhu worked with Shearman & Sterling from 1992 to 1994 as an attorney. Mr. Zhu is also a board member of Nanjing University and the Hong Kong Ballet. Mr. Zhu received a J.D. degree from Cornell Law School, a master's degree from Nanjing University and a bachelor's degree from Zhengzhou University.

--snip--








Bryan Zongwei Li
Independent Director

Bryan Zongwei Li has served as our director since November 2010. Mr. Li currently serves as an executive director and the chief financial officer of Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, or Yingli, a vertically integrated photovoltaic product manufacturer in China listed on the NYSE. Prior to joining Yingli in November 2006, Mr. Li served as a senior audit manager and an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 11 years. Mr. Li received a master's degree in business administration from Olin School of Business of Washington University, and he graduated from the mechanical engineering department of Shanghai Institute of Technology and from the international finance and insurance department of Shanghai Institute of Business and Administration. Mr. Li is a certified member of Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

--snip--

[formercia]

8. Youku, the Chinese version of Youtube.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youku

Youku was founded by Victor Koo, former President of Chinese Internet portal Sohu. Initial funding for the site came from 1Verge, a fund raised by Koo. A beta version of the site was launched with limited geographic reach in June 2006, and the website was formally launched in December 2006. In 2007, the company received $25 million in funding from venture capitalists.[5] In December 2009, the company announced that it had raised a total of $110 million in private equity funding. Major investors include Brookside (Bain) Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Maverick Capital, and Chengwei Ventures.[6]
The company initially emphasized user-generated content but has since shifted its focus to professionally produced videos licensed from over 1,500 content partners.[6]
As of January 2010, Youku.com was ranked #1 in Chinese Internet video sector according to Internet metrics provider CR-Nielsen.[7] Keeping in mind that YouTube is banned in China. In 2008, Youku partnered with Myspace in China.[8] Later that year, Youku became the sole online video provider embedded in the China Edition of popular web browser Mozilla Firefox.[9]
In January 2010, Youku and competitor Tudou announced the creation of a video broadcasting exchange network, under which Youku and Tudou will cross-license professionally produced video content.[10]
Youku recorded gross revenues of 200 million RMB in 2009.[11]
On December 8, 2010, Youku was listed at the New York Stock Exchange for its first time. The stock closed at $33.44 on its first day of trading giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $3.3 billion. For the first 9 months of 2010 Youku reported revenue of $35.1 million and recorded a loss of $25 million during this period. YouKu.com seems to have no relation to the Chinese domain youku.cn.

[wordpix]

21. too bad this info didn't come out a year ago

[bananas]

10. Hmmm... nt

[FlaGranny]

12. That puts conspiracy theories

into my head, with Mr. Romney and friends right in the middle.

[formercia]

13. The big question that I have:

I can understand hiring locals if you want to do business in China.

I think it's a little more complicated than that.

Now the question: Do the Chinese work for him, or are the Chinese like Howard Hughes and hire Mormons as Front Men.

Perhaps Mitt is truly a Manchurian Candidate.

[Kolesar]

27. Nice work on the Bain connections

I have to kick the thread to salute your quip, though.

[wordpix]

20. "Jia Zhu, Managing Director, Bain Capital Private Equity" ---aHA! smoking gun Rmoney will say "I

don't know anything about it, I'm in a blind trust."

Trust me on this one

[DhhD]

9. What kind of work do the Romney sons do? The extended family. Mexico connections?

[GreydeeThos]

16. We need tariffs to even up the Environmental costs

The Chinese need to start paying the difference between what companies in the United States have to pay to meet environmental regulations and what the Chinese do not pay in their disregard for pollution control.

The Chinese pay little attention to their own environmental laws and it shows in the price difference between US and Chinese goods. If we cannot get them to protect the environment like we do, then they should make up the difference in price (or manufacture to our standards).

We all live on the same planet, it is only a matter of time before the pollution from the cheap gadgets and products crosses the ocean and poisons us too.

[dipsydoodle]

17. It would take some time

for China to come anywhere close to the damage the US has done to the environment over the past 60 years or so.

The US still emits 18 tonnes / person. China's equivalent figure is only 1.38

[formercia]

24. but, how many people live in China

Carbon Dioxide is not the same as Chlorinated Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metals.

[brentspeak]

25. Yeah, we should hold off on demanding China tackle its pollution

Because of course, this is a race, and we should give them time so they can catch up.

Thank you for the dumb post.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-stunning-visualization-of-chinas-air-pollution/259455/

A Stunning Visualization of China's Air Pollution

Jul 5 2012, 12:29 PM ET 21

When a ranking Chinese government official slammed the U.S. embassy and consulates in China earlier this month for measuring local air pollution data, calling it "violating diplomatic conventions," Chinese web users snapped back. "Can't you see the bad pollution yourself?" asked one typical comment.

China's censors have tremendous power in print, online, and even in public spaces such as Tiananmen Square. But when it comes to air pollution, even the Chinese government can't obscure the facts. People see and breathe it every day.

The debate over whose statistics are most "accurate" can be confusing -- how to sort out truth from spin? That's why a group of us at the Asia Society decided to launch China Air Daily, a website that provides up-to-date information on air pollution in the country's largest urban sectors, and even compares them to major cities from elsewhere in the world.

According to a 2007 report produced by the World Bank and Chinese government, up to 400,000 Chinese die prematurely every year because of air pollution. The concentration of particles in the air that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers, the size at which they can penetrate the lungs, is on average 10 times higher in Beijing than in New York, according to our past three months of data collection. But such figures alone don't tell the story. A set images at the top of this page show Beijing on a clear day versus a smoggy; move the slider back and forth with your mouse and you might start to understand the extent to which pollution affects Chinese cities such as Beijing.

[dipsydoodle]

26. Well you could always counter balance the situation

by stopping driving all cars now.

Moaning about China does little to compensate for the damage the US has done in the past.

[formercia]

29. It's not so much about China

but the corporations like Bain Capital, that rape US companies, move the jobs to China because they can make greater profits by not having to deal with things like pollution, worker safety and US taxes.

[wordpix]

22. little known fact: US companies that hire Chinese suppliers tend not to share many of the profits

That squeezes the suppliers to cut costs any way they can. Thus they provide worker housing with 20 people squeezed into a few rooms, pay $.99/hr., they use dangerous toxins instead of more expensive, less toxic solvents, they don't provide protective gear, they don't ventilate properly in their factories, they don't provide inspectors, etc.

Just researched/wrote a paper on Chinese suppliers to Apple and this was the case.

[Sunlei]

18. excellent! Also check if Romney had anything to do with the 2010 price drop

That 40% price drop in the short time of one month cost a ton of American jobs in American factories that were set to open their doors.

Everyone knows Romney has invested in China for decades. Someone backed that price drop and seemed to coordinate it with a timing that harmed one of Americas largest recovery plan.

[wordpix]

19. "I wonder if Bain Capital has any connection to these Chinese companies" - very interesting thought

Not only is Rmoney focused on Solyndra but he's also focused on bashing China, causing me to think maybe his Chinese investments went south

[formercia]

23. Yet, Romney goes to Hong Kong for a Fundraiser

Now, if that isn't blatant Hubris.

[KamaAina]

30. He goes to California for fundraisers

then compares us to Greece or Spain.

[FarCenter]

28. The three Chinese companies all use conventional silicon solar cells

A large part of the drop in price is due to reduction in the cost of the polysilicon raw material. Another part of the drop is due to learning how to manufacture the solar cells more cheaply from the polysilicon ingots.

Solyndra was based on using copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film technology inside of cylindrical tubes. It was fairly bizarre and didn't ever really work.

There is no mystery why Solyndra went bankrupt and the Chinese companies didn't.