Ji'nan Iron and Steel to go fully public

The Shanghai-listed arm of Ji'nan Iron and Steel Group announced that it plans to acquire all shares owned by its parent company and become fully publicly traded, Economic Observer reported (in Chinese). Ji'nan Iron and Steel Ltd will issue about 380 million shares to raise about US$903 million to fund the acquisition of the 68.69% stake held by its state-owned parent, according to the company's quarterly report. Through the share sale the core assets and business of Ji'nan Steel and Iron Group Corp, currently China's sixth-largest steel maker, will go entirely public after the acquisition. Ji'nan Steel and Iron Ltd posted net revenue of US$132 million in the first nine months of 2007.