Shanxi Coking scraps private placement

Shanxi Coking Co. Ltd<600740>, the biggest publicly traded coke producer in China, has terminated a plan to raise up to RMB 3 billion (US$439 million) via a private placement due to the ailing equity market and lower coke prices.

In April this year, the Shanxi-headquartered company obtained go-ahead from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to sell shares to up to 10 institutional investors. Proceeds from the offering would be used to improve a coke oven and build chemical plants, according to the previous plan.

However, the company failed to complete the share sale within six months after winning regulatory approval.

The company had planned to sell the shares at RMB 21.20 apiece, which was slashed by 71% to RMB 6.24 apiece last month.

Shares of Shanxi Coking fell 4.24% to close at RMB 4.97 on Friday.