The announcement was made before trading hours on today, 20 November 2009.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 13.94 points, or 0.08%, to 16771.71.
On BSE, 51.41 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 1.29 crore shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 78 and a low of Rs 74.55 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 145.85 on 5 June 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 33.05 on 12 March 2009.
The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 18 November 2009, falling 18% as compared to the Sensex's 1.89% fall. It underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 17.02% as against 13.06% rise in the Sensex.
The large-cap wind turbine maker has an equity capital of Rs 311.34 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.
Suzlon sold 235 million out of the 410.6 million shares it holds in Hansen through AD-Rotor Holding BV, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Suzlon. Hansen shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange.
Suzlon sold the shares through secondary placements. Under the norms governing such placements, Suzlon cannot sell the remaining 26% of its shareholding in Hansen for at least 6 months.
Suzlon, controlled by Pune-based entrepreneur Tulsi Tanti, currently has gross debt totalling Rs 12,500 crore. Thursday's stake sale will reduce Suzlon's shareholding in Hansen to 26% from 61%.
This is the second divestment of Suzlon's stake in Hansen this year, with the firm selling 10% in January this year to the London-based investment firm Ecofin
Suzlon had bought the Belgium-based Hansen in 2006 for $565 million (about Rs 2,656 crore).
Suzlon Energy, which has a 12.3% of the global wind turbine market, is currently looking at the growing Indian market for higher order flows that have been dwindling in its erstwhile main markers in the West. Suzlon had called off a rights issue last year that was intended to raise funds for debt reduction.
Earlier this week, Suzlon Energy's German unit REpower Systems said its US subsidiary has signed a contract to supply wind turbines with a total capacity of 18.45 megawatts (MW) to US firm Heritage Sustainable Energy LLC. Suzlon owns a majority stake in REpower, Germany's third largest wind turbine maker.
The contract also provides an option to supply another 10 turbines with total capacity of 20 MW to the US firm. The company did not disclose financial details of the order.
The turbines under the current order are expected to be installed by the third quarter of 2010, Suzlon said in a statement.
Earlier on 16 November 2009, Suzlon's US unit had secured a 20 megawatt order. Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation, the US step-down wholly owned subsidiary of Suzlon Energy, had received a new order for the community-based Grant County Wind Farm in Southwestern Minnesota, US. The project consists of 10 Suzlon S88 2.1 MW wind turbines. The wind farm is expected to be in commercial operation in the first quarter of 2010.
Suzlon Energy reported a net loss of Rs 184.91 crore in Q2 September 2009 compared with a net profit of Rs 16.98 crore in Q2 September 2008. Sales fell 72.3% to Rs 616.02 crore in Q2 September 2009 over Q2 September 2008. The company announced the results on 31 October 2009.
Suzlon's profit were hurt as the company got fewer orders this year because major economies are struggling with last year's financial crisis. Suzlon said its order book stood at 1,488 MW, with 1,365 MW in international orders and 123 MW in domestic orders.
For the current fiscal year that end on March 2010, the company revised its full year guidance to a range of 1,900 MW to 2,100 MW.
Suzlon Energy's order book as on 30 October 2009 stood at Rs 8,285 crore, which is 1.15 times its sales of Rs 7235.58 crore for the year ended March 2009, giving strong revenue visibility.
Suzlon Energy designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains wind generating equipment. The company constructs large wind parks.
Promoters have pledged 35.76 crore shares representing 22.97% of the equity capital of the company. Total promoters shareholding in the company is 53.08% (as on September 2009).