SHANGHAI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - China Shipbuilding Industry Co, the country's biggest ship equipment producer, said on Wednesday it would launch an initial public stock offering as it needed 6.4 billion yuan ($937 million) to expand production capacity.
China Shipbuilding plans to issue up to 2 billion A shares denominated in yuan, or up to 30 percent of its expanded share capital after the IPO, for a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, it said in a prospectus published in the official Shanghai Securities News.
China International Capital Corp (CICC) has been appointed the IPO's lead underwriter, China Shipbuilding said.
Analysts said the China Securities Regulatory Commission may be poised to grant approval for more IPOs and other fund-raising activities in the near term as the government has been increasingly alarmed by soaring asset prices.
China is witnessing a new wave of capital inflows, which helped push its stock market up as much as 27 percent from early September to Tuesday when a powerful technical correction set in.
Sky-high urban property prices also rose another 3.9 percent in October from a year earlier, prompting officials and economists to issue stern warnings about possible asset bubbles.
China Shipbuilding will start consultations on pricing the offer on Thursday and take institutional subscriptions on Dec. 4 and retail subscriptions on Dec. 7, its prospectus said.
Forty-five percent of the shares on offer will be earmarked for institutions and the rest for retail investors. The ratio may be shifted in favour of either side according to demand.
China Shipbuilding said it hoped to list on the Shanghai bourse as soon as possible after the IPO, but the prospectus did not give a firm date.

($1 = 6.83 yuan)

(Reporting by Lu Jianxin and Edmund Klamann; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

((jianxin.lu@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 6104 1792; Reuters Messaging: jianxin.lu.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: CHINASHIPBUILDING (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.