Suzlon not to divest stake further in Hansen now: WSJ

Suzlon Energy said today that it had no plans at the moment to sell its remaining 26.06-per cent stake in Belgian wind turbine and industrial gearbox maker Hansen Transmissions International NV.

The Wall Street Journal reported that it had ascertained from a Suzlon spokesman via email that the company was not contemplating a divestment.

"Suzlon is not selling its stake in Hansen, although that's one of the options,'' WSJ qouted the spokesman as having said via email

Earlier in the day, a business daily had reported that Suzlon had plans of selling its leftover stake in Hansen, with two firms having evinced an interest in acquitring it.

The paper had quoted the COO of the company hinting at a stake sale as being one of the options being considered. This, the paper said, was in line with the company's staggered selling of parts of its shareholding as part of its ongoing negotiations with lenders and creditors to recast its debt.

Suzlon is not constrained for time as far as the stake sale is concerned and is not bound by German stock exchange rules, which make it mandatory for companies to adhere to a lock-in period of six months from the previous stake sale, Dow Jones Newswires quoted the spokesman as having said.

Suzlon Energy last cut its stake in the company in November 2009 when it divested 35 per cent of its 61 per cent stake in Hansen to fund its other major acquisition REpower.