China State Construction eyes $4.8b offering

China State Construction Engineering Corporation (601668.SHA) plans to issue as much as $4.8 billion (RMB30 billion) in preferred shares to raise capital for infrastructure projects, Bloomberg reported. The country’s largest construction company aims to issue 300 million shares through private placement, planning to sell at least 50% of the stock within six months of winning approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the rest within 24 months. CSCEC shares are trading at near record-low valuations, constraining its ability to raise funds through common stock, and the company needs to boost capital as its debt-to-asset ratio stood at 79% at the end of March.