SiliconBeat

On Monday, Cypress Semiconductor sold 2.5 million shares of SunPower, the company it spun-off into a separate public entity in November 2005, reducing its ownership stake by 5.6 percent. Cypress continues to be SunPower’s single biggest stockholder, with 42 million shares, or 52.3 percent of SunPower shares outstanding, according to a filing with the SEC today.

The shares were sold to a private investor. The amount of the transaction was not detailed. SunPower shares rose 18 percent last Friday to close at $92.52 after the company reported winning a contract to build a 250-megawatt power plant for PG&E. They gave up 4.4 percent on Monday, the day Cypress sold the 2.5 million shares, which were worth more than $221 million at the close Monday.

On Aug. 1 Cypress’s board of directors approved the sale of 3 million SunPower shares. Cypress said it has “no present intention” to sell the remaining 500,000 share authorized for sale.