China Nuclear plans IPO to help fund projects worth $27 billion

China National Nuclear Power Co, the country's biggest nuclear power developer, plans to raise money to help fund projects

worth $27.3 billion via what could be one of China's biggest initial public offerings.

It did not specify its fundraising target or IPO timing in a statement on the Ministry of Environment Protection's website,

but said the IPO proceeds would go towards five projects with a total investment of 173.5 billion yuan ($27.25 billion).

The ministry said in a statement it had approved the IPO plan, which would also need the go-ahead from the securities

regulator.

China suspended approvals of new nuclear power plants in the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis in March 2011 following a

devastating tsunami, and ordered nationwide safety checks on existing plants and construction sites.

The government has not made any decision on when to start approving new nuclear plant projects but the State Council, China's

Cabinet, last week approved a nuclear safety plan and said its nuclear power plants met the latest international safety

standards.

State media have said China will likely scale down its 2020 nuclear power generation capacity target to 60-70 gigawatts (GW)

compared with earlier expectations of around 80 GW.

China National Nuclear was formed last year as part of a restructuring of its state-owned parent China National Nuclear

Corporation (CNNC).

Chinese companies in industries such as nuclear, mining and chemicals must get approval from the environmental ministry

before they can submit IPO applications to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the securities watchdog.

If all or most of the planned projects are financed by share sale proceeds, China National Nuclear's IPO could be mammoth,

potentially surpassing Agricultural Bank of China's (1288.HK) (601288.SS) Hong Kong-Shanghai dual listing to become China's

biggest.

China National Nuclear owns the bulk of the nuclear business of CNNC, one of the largest companies owned by the Chinese

central government. ($1 = 6.3675 Chinese yuan)

https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/06/us-china-nuclear-ipo-idUSBRE85502320120606