Tag Archives: request

SunEdison Bankruptcy Watch: YieldCos’ CEO Abruptly Exits

Brian Wuebbels late Wednesday stepped down as CEO of TerraForm Power ( TERP ) and TerraForm Global ( GLBL ), as parent company SunEdison ( SUNE ) is on the brink of default. Both TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global said the respective board of directors had formed an “office of the chairman” to run the concerns on an interim basis. Meanwhile, David Tepper’s hedge fund, Appaloosa Management, which owns 9.5% of Terraform Power, sued the yieldco and SunEdison in Delaware’s Chancery Court, demanding that TerraForm overhaul its Conflicts Committee, claiming controlling shareholder SunEdison has breached its fiduciary duties. Appaloosa Management in January sued SunEdison, saying it violated its fiduciary duties as it pursed its now-defunct effort to acquire Vivint Solar ( VSLR ). Also late Wednesday, S&P Dow Jones Indices said that WebMD Health ( WBMD ) will replace SunEdison the S&P MidCap 400, saying SunEdison no longer has a market cap to qualify for the index. Earlier, JPMorgan downgraded TerraForm Global, while FBR suspended coverage of the “unpredictable” SunEdison. SunEdison hasn’t released financials for beyond Sept. 30 and is in danger of default. Late Tuesday, TerraForm Power said there was “substantial risk” of a SunEdison bankruptcy, which might make its own talks with creditors “more difficult.” SunEdison stock plunged as low as 45 cents on Wednesday, but closed up 2 cents to 59 cents. TerraForm Power fell 2.7% to 8.38 but rose 3% late. TerraForm Global climbed 7.4% to 2.18, then advanced 7% in late trade. Vivint Solar rose 6 cents to 2.62.

Yahoo CEO Mayer Gets A Bigger Golden Parachute If The Company Sells

Yahoo ( YHOO ) CEO Marissa Mayer has a bit of extra incentive to sell the ailing Internet company, which is facing a proxy fight. According to CNN Money, Mayer gets $37 million if she’s fired after selling the Sunnyvale-based company, under the terms of her employment contract . But she’ll be paid only $12.5 million if she’s let go without a sale. In that case, Mayer would take home $1 million in salary, a $2 million cash bonus and $9.5 million in stock that would vest in 2016, the report says . But being ousted after a sale significantly ups the ante by triggering “the release of all her stock awards. In virtually any other scenario, Mayer would have needed to stay at Yahoo for a certain period of time in order to cash out those rewards,” said CNN Money. In either scenario, her golden parachute will be worth significantly less now than it was a year ago, since the price of Yahoo stock has fallen 18% over the past 12 months. On Wednesday, Yahoo stock rose a fraction, to 36.56. A year ago, Mayer would have taken home $110 million had she lost her job because of Yahoo’s sale and $26 million if she was let go without a sale, the report said. Mayer, who joined Yahoo in 2012, earned $42 million in cash and stocks in 2014, CNN Money said. Her 2015 compensation is expected to be reported next month. Sale or not, Yahoo is facing rough waters. Last week, in a letter charging the current board of Yahoo with failing to deliver results for its shareholders, activist investor Starboard Value announced that it wants to sweep out all of the ailing Web company’s nine directors and replace them with its own slate during Yahoo’s 2016 shareholder meeting. The letter — from Starboard Value managing member Jeffrey Smith, one of Starboard’s slate of Yahoo board nominees — indicates that Starboard also doesn’t trust Yahoo’s current directors to perform in terms of either the strategic review of Yahoo’s core search and display-ad business or with the eventual fate of Yahoo’s 15% stake in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group ( BABA ) and its holdings in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo this month appointed two members to its board, Catherine Friedman, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley ( MS ), and Eric Brandt, a former chief financial officer of Broadcom ( AVGO ). Yahoo’s revenue growth has stalled for nearly a decade as ad dollars continue to slip away to rivals including Facebook ( FB ), Netflix ( NFLX ), Alphabet ( GOOGL )-unit Google, and others that include high-profile startups Snapchat and Pinterest. Yahoo has reportedly gotten interest from as many as 40 groups who have until April 11 to submit preliminary bids for its core business and Asian operations.  

AT&T Mulling Own Android Smartphone Play, Despite Amazon Flop?

AT&T ( T ) is in talks with startup Cyanogen, which has already partnered with Microsoft ( MSFT ), to bring a smartphone to market powered by Cyanogen’s version of open-source Android, not Google’s, say reports. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) flopped with its “Fire” mobile phone, which used a variant of Google’s Android operating system. Well-funded Cyanogen’s technology, though, could give AT&T an edge. Spain-based Telefonica ( TEF ) in late 2015 was the first European wireless firm to launch a smartphone running the Cyanogen operating system. Cyanogen, which has raised $115 million in funding, aims to sell handset makers a version of Android that doesn’t include Google’s services and online store. Under parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Google has been asserting more control over Android devices,  giving AT&T motivation to seek alternatives , said a report on The Information news site. Besides Cyanogen, AT&T would also work with China-based equipment maker ZTE to develop the smartphone. Microsoft has partnered with Cyanogen to make apps for Skype, Cortana and OneNote available on its Android-based OS. One problem with Amazon’s Fire phone was that its online store did not have all the popular apps from Google and third-party developers. Amazon ended Fire Phone sales last September. Image provided by Shutterstock .