Leading Chinese polysilicon and wafer manufacturer GCL-Poly is to abandon plans for the US$1.3 billion sale of its wafer business.

The company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today that it had decided to maintain its position as a “leading polysilicon and wafer manufacturer”.

GCL-Poly announced the sale in early November as a measure to help ease its debt situation, and an agreement was signed later that month with various investors, including Jiangsu Golden Concord Energy, GCL’s parent company. The sale had been expected to ease the company's debt to equity ratio from 146.5% to 38.8%.

But in its statement, GCL said the board had decided termination of the sale would be in the best interests of the company’s shareholders, without giving further detail.

In its latest quarterly figures, GCL reported that sales from both its polysilicon and wafer businesses were booming. Wafer sales for 2014 were predicted at around 13GW.