Hanwha Chemical Corp. is cashing in its entire holding of 2 million shares in Woongjin Energy Co. to depart from the money-losing energy company.

Woongjin Energy’s second-largest shareholder said Thursday it was offering the shares - tantamount to a 6.7 percent stake - at 4,235 won ($3.82) apiece, 15 percent discounted from Wednesday’s closing. If entirely sold, Hanwha Chemical would get 8.47 billion won, which would be a loss since it had bought them at 10 billion won in March 2017.

The dump has sent Woongjin Energy shares to a 52-week low. Its shares closed Thursday down 19.4 percent at 4,015 won.

Hanwha Chemical said the sale was to recoup investment and did not give details on why it was abandoning the company just a year after buying an equity stake to bolster its polysilicon business.

Woonjin Energy, a maker of wafers and ingots for solar cells, joined the country’s main Kospi in 2010. Its business took a hit in 2015 and 2016 amid a slowdown in the global solar power market. The company, rather than scaling down, ramped up production at its plant in Gumi. Although sales gained 15.1 percent on year to 61.5 billion won in the first quarter, it registered a net loss of 14.8 billion won.

By Kang Doo-soon and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]