(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)