(Yicai Global) Nov. 20 -- The share price of GCL New Energy Holdings has dropped for the third straight day today after China's largest privately-owned solar power firm said that state-owned electric utility behemoth China Huaneng Group will not be buying a majority stake in it after five months of negotiations.

GCL's [HK:00451] stock price fell by 2.7 percent to 21 Hong Kong cents (US 3 cents) in the afternoon. Its shares have lost 16 percent of their value this week.

Several rounds of negotiations regarding a 51 percent stake transfer (9.7 billion common shares) have been terminated without a deal, the Suzhou-based photovoltaic firm under Golden Concord Group said in a statement. However, their pair has agreed that Beijing's Huaneng may buy some of GCL's Chinese assets, it added.

Since last year, GCL has been selling its solar plant assets to relieve its high debt-to-asset ratio that had been standing at over 84 percent from 2017. In December, it sold its stake in a 140-megawatt power plant project to the China Three Gorges, followed by this year's sales of two assets in Suzhou and Henan. Yet, its debt ratio only fell to 83.5 percent by June.

According to Moody's assessment from March, the firm has CNY8.5 billion (USD1.2 billion) in short-term debt to be settled this year.

GCL owns more than 210 power stations around the globe and at the end of last year, its installed capacity was over 7.3 gigawatts, ranking second-biggest in the world.

Editor: Emmi Laine