Meyer Burger secures $40 million bridge loan after top client's exit

(Reuters) -Embattled Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger said on Friday it had secured nearly $40 million in bridge financing to stabilise its business after its largest customer, DESRI, revealed last month it was pulling out.

Meyer Burger said in November its future looked uncertain after DESRI's move was announced, which came on the heels of a series of other setbacks.

Meyer Burger said it expected to immediately draw an initial tranche of $19.7 million from the bridge loan, with future drawdowns conditional on it reaching certain milestones.

The company said it had been talking to DESRI about the terms of a new agreement, which it hopes to conclude in December.

Meyer Burger Executive Chairman Franz Richter said he saw interest from DESRI and IKEA operator Ingka in non-Chinese-made solar cells, especially after the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, who is expected to raise tariffs on Chinese imports.

"If you want to be independent from China, then there's no way of getting around Meyer Burger on the technology side," Richter said on a conference call.

The renewed interest in the U.S. partly helped Meyer Burger to secure the loan, Richter said.

The Swiss company is among the few non-Chinese players on the market, and owns a plant in Phoenix, Arizona. It recently scrapped plans to build a new factory in Colorado.

The bridge loan should fund sufficient liquidity for Meyer Burger to reach definitive agreements with an ad-hoc group of bondholders and DESRI to reach a sustainable restructuring solution to stabilise its long-term finances, the firm said.

Richter said the company was committed to strengthening its relationship with DESRI. If successful, that would underscore the firm's potential in the U.S. market, he said.

(Writing by Miranda Murray and Andrey Sychev. Editing by Dave Graham and Mark Potter)