Shares of Sasol Crash on Equity Issuance Plan

Shares of energy and chemical company Sasol (NYSE: SSL) are down 23.9% as of 10:30 a.m. EDT today. The sharp drop comes after the company announced plans to issue equity to help pay down its debt load.

Back when shale drilling was just taking off and oil prices were still high, companies started plowing billions into developing new chemical facilities in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Sasol was one of them. The South Africa-based company was looking for a way to transition from its origins as a coal-to-gas producer to chemical manufacturing. Part of that push was a multibillion-dollar chemical manufacturing plant. Spending big typically means taking on debt. As of this writing, Sasol has $9.8 billion in debt outstanding.

Image source: Getty Images.

Source Fool.com