On March 20, Hubei Province-based Chinese steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd, (WISCO), a subsidiary of Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp., announced that it has received approval from China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) for its planned issue of up to 4.2 billion non-public A shares.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in late November last year WISCO announced that it plans to issue non-public A shares to raise funds not exceeding RMB 15 billion ($2.4 billion) for the purpose of acquiring iron ore assets from its parent company. Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp. will purchase not less than 10 percent of the total shares. The issuance price will not be lower than RMB 2.23 per share.
With the funds in question, Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. will acquire 100 percent of shares ofWISCO Mining Co, 100 percent of shares of WISCO International Resources Development & Investment Co., Ltd, 90 percent of shares of WISCO (Brazil) Co., and 100 percent of shares of WISCO Australia Pty Ltd.
WISCO Mining Co. holds a 10 percent stake in WISCO (Brazil) Co., while WISCO International Resources Development & Investment Co. holds a 60 percent stake in LilianMining (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd, which has an iron ore mining project in Liberia.