Coke producer plans $1b float

Shanxi Coking Coal Group, one of the country's biggest coke-making companies, plans to raise at least US$1 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong next year, the South China Morning Post reported. The company recently mandated Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and BOC International to handle the share sale, sources told the newspaper. The company first needs to restructure its complicated corporate structure, which includes seven main subsidiaries, potentially delaying the listing. Shanxi Coking Coal has an annual production capacity of 65.8 million tonnes and annual washing capacity of 45 million tonnes of raw coal, which it produces for more than 20 cities in China and countries such as Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Germany and India. At the end of 2004, the group had assets of US$4.8 billion and 150,000 employees.