CHINA’S Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd. and social media firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. will buy Mascotte Holdings Ltd. at a 97 percent discount off the solar tech maker’s share price.

    Mascotte requested trading of its shares suspended June 9 because of what it said were unusual trading volumes. The same day, the company agreed to be bought by Evergrande and Tencent, Mascotte’s filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange said yesterday.

    Evergrande and Tencent will buy new shares for around HK$750 million (US$96.74 million), accounting for 75 percent of Mascotte’s publicly traded share capital base.

    Mascotte describes itself on its website as a maker of solar grade polysilicon in Taiwan.

    It was not immediately clear why Evergrande and Tencent would be interested in the firm. A spokeswoman for Tencent confirmed the transaction, but declined to provide details.

    Evergrande, which has been buying up firms outside its core real estate business, entered the solar industry in October, partnering with California-based Solar Power Inc. to take over solar firm Guocang Group Ltd.

    Evergrande and Tencent will pay HK$0.006 per share for Mascotte, the solar firm said, a 97 percent discount off the HK$0.285 the stock last traded at )before the suspension. The shares had traded steadily around HK$0.1 for the past two years before rising as high as HK$0.4 in May as volumes increased. (SD-Agencies)