China Resources Cement Holdings Ltd. plans to raise up to US$824 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering to fund expansion, China Daily reported Wednesday.

The company plans to sell 1.64 billion new shares in a range of 3.2 Hong Kong dollars (about 40 US cents) to 3.9 Hong Kong dollars each. The offer has a green shoe option to sell an additional 245.7 million shares, the newspaper said, citing a term sheet.

Trading in the shares is scheduled to start on October 6.

The company said proceeds from the sale would be used to build cement production lines in several cities across the country.

The cement company is a unit of state-run China Resources (Holdings) Co. Ltd.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2009)