Dec 6 (Reuters) - Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger

said on Friday it had secured nearly $40 million in

bridge financing to stabilize its business after its largest

customer, DESRI, said last month it was pulling out.

Meyer Burger said in November its future looked uncertain

after the DESRI exit was announced, which came on the heels of a

series of other setbacks.

Meyer Burger said it expects to immediately draw an initial

tranche of $19.7 million from the new bridge loan facility, with

drawdowns on the remaining tranches conditional on it reaching

additional milestones.

The company said it has been in discussions with DESRI on

the terms of a new agreement, with further drawdown of its

bridge financing linked to a successful deal.

The 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 stabilize its long-term finances, the firm said.

A final agreement is targeted during December.

"With this first but major financing step, we start

re-powering the company to finalise the ramp-up of our

production lines to full capacity of 1.4 GW per annum," Meyer

Burger Executive Chairman Franz Richter 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

Editing by Dave Graham)