CHINA Hongqiao Group Ltd., the world’s largest aluminum producer, plans to raise HK$6.24 billion (US$800 million) through the sale of new shares to cut debt.

Hong Kong-listed China Hongqiao, which has roughly US$16.6 billion in liabilities, will use 70 percent of proceeds to reduce debt due this year while the rest will go toward general working capital, it said in a filing Tuesday.

The firm’s controlling shareholder, China Hongqiao Holdings Ltd., will sell 650 million shares to third-party investors at HK$9.60 apiece, a 10.45 percent discount to its previous close.

The controlling shareholder will then buy the same amount in new shares issued by the company, although its stake will decline to 68.5 percent from about 74 percent.

The share sale comes after China Hongqiao was hit last year by negative research reports from a group called Emerson Analytics that said the company was understating its costs and exaggerating its profits.

China Hongqiao has called the reports defamatory and in December obtained an injunction from a Hong Kong court to restrict reports by Emerson.

After being suspended from trade for much of the year, the stock rebounded to end the year up 28.3 percent, although that lagged a 36 percent rise in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

(SD-Agencies)