Power plant builder raises $1.8 billion

China Energy Engineering Corp, a State-owned builder of power plants, and an existing investor raised $1.8 billion from a Hong Kong initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Beijing-based company and China's National Council for Social Security Fund sold 8.8 billion shares at HK$1.59 (20 cents) apiece, the low end of a marketed range, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. New shares accounted for about 90.9 percent of the sale.

China Energy Engineering's sale brings the amount raised through Hong Kong IPOs this year to $31.4 billion, the highest since 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The four biggest share sales in the city this year came from Chinese State-owned enterprises seeking to bolster their capital bases.

Twenty cornerstone investors, including China's Silk Road Fund and General Electric Co, bought a combined $1.27 billion of stock in China Energy Engineering's IPO, according to its prospectus. The company plans to start trading Dec 10.

A Hong Kong-based external spokeswoman for China Energy Engineering declined to comment. China International Capital Corp and CITIC CLSA Capital Markets Ltd were joint sponsors of the deal.

IFR reported the pricing earlier on Thursday in Hong Kong, citing unidentified people.