China COSCO Holdings Co., the flagship company of the country's premier shipping group, said on Friday that it was launching its Shanghai IPO and expected to list by June 29. 

Subscriptions from institutional investors will be taken on June 15 and 18, and from retail investors on June 18, the company said. Final pricing would be decided on June 19, while funds locked up by the offer would be returned on June 20 and 21.

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China COSCO plans to issue up to 1.784 billion new A shares, or 20 percent of its enlarged share capital. Thirty percent of the shares will go to strategic investors, 25 percent to institutions and the rest to retail investors, although the retail portion may be expanded if demand is strong.

Based on Thursday's closing price of the firm's Hong Kong-listed H shares at HK$9.73, it could raise as much as HK$17.4 billion (US$2.23 billion), although Chinese firms usually sell shares in domestic IPOs at a discount to the H-share price.

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