LDK Solar, a Chinese solar manufacturer burdened with $2.8 billion in debt, agreed to sell more shares to investor Cheng Kin Ming’s Fulai Investments Ltd., boosting his stake in LDK to 25 percent and diluting that of its biggest holder, founder and chairman Peng Xiaofeng.
The company will issue 25 million new shares at $1.03 each to Fulai, which also has the right to choose two non-executive directors, Xinyu-based LDK said today in a statement. That will boost the solar company’s total outstanding shares to about 169 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
This is the third time in six months that LDK has issued new shares to an investor, and the company has now sold or agreed to sell about 40 percent of itself. The solar manufacturer is trying to raise capital to pay down debts after a global oversupply of photovoltaic panels drove down prices and cut into margins.
Peng owned about 72.5 million shares as of May, a majority stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With the newly issued shares, his stake will decline to about 43 percent.
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