(Bloomberg)
Updated: 2007-11-29 14:09

Wharf Holdings Ltd, the Hong Kong landlord and port operator that owns a pay-television company, plans to raise HK$9.18 billion (US$1.18 billion) selling rights shares to existing shareholders to fund expansion in China.

Rights shares gives existing shareholders the right to buy new stock at a discount. The company will sell each one at HK$30 for every eight existing equities, 26 percent lower than the closing price today, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Wharf may issue as many as 306 million of rights shares, or 12.5 percent of the current shares.

Wharf is tapping the China property market, aiming to boost its land bank to 100 million square feet by the first half of next year while investing 600 million yuan on existing projects. The company said today it more than doubled its third-quarter profit to HK$7.55 billion as rental income from office and retail properties rose.

The proceeds from the share sale will be used to support its development in the Chinese mainland where it has acquired 14 sites since 2005, it said.

Parent Wheelock & Co, which holds a 50 percent stake, is the underwriter. Standard Chartered Bank is the financial adviser of the deal.