China Shenhua Energy Co said today that it plans to issue shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and to increase its holdings of parent company assets, according to The Associated Press.

The company, whose shares are traded in Hong Kong, said in a regulatory notice that it would issue up to 1.8 billion shares denominated in yuan, and use proceeds from the Shanghai offering to improve the company's operations and to buy assets from its state-owned parent, Shenhua Group Corp.

The money would also be used to buy overseas assets, said the notice, posted on the Website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The Shanghai initial public offering is subject to regulatory and shareholders' approval. Pricing would depend on market conditions, it said, so the amount of funds to be raised was not specified.

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However, the notice said Shenhua Energy, the country's biggest coal producer, proposed to spend 3.33 billion yuan (US$437 million) buying parent company coal and power assets.

In a separate statement, Shenhua said it has agreed to buy from its parent group 100 percent of Shenhua Group Shenfu Dongsheng Coal Co and Shenhua Shendong Power Co.

Shenhua Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of regional coal mines in Inner Mongolia, reported sales of 240 million tons of coal in 2006 and forecasts sales this year of between 260 million tons and 270 million tons.

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