RPT-UPDATE 1-NEC to raise $1.7 bln in share offer-sources

(Repeats to additional subscribers)

* To raise up to Y150 bln in public share offering-sources

* Would trigger dilution of 30 pct at current stock price

* Funds for shoring up finances, investing in growth areas

* Company announcement as early as Friday-sources
(Adds details)

By Emi Emoto and Taro Fuse

TOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - NEC Corp (6701.T), Japan's largest
PC maker, plans to raise up to 150 billion yen ($1.7 billion) in
a share offering to shore up its capital and invest in growth
businesses, four sources familiar with the matter said.

The company will announce the share issue, its first in 6
years, as early as Friday, the sources said.

NEC spokesman Makoto Miyakawa declined to comment.

NEC, which cut its full-year operating profit outlook by 40
percent last week, is hurrying to shore up a capital base that
has been weakened by losses at semiconductor unit NEC Electronics
(6723.T) and sluggish sales of its network systems. [ID:nT9578]

NEC reported a net loss of about $3 billion in the past
financial year ended in March, driving its shareholders' equity
ratio to just under 21 percent and roughly half that of peers
Sharp Corp (6753.T) and Panasonic Corp (6752.T).

Issuing 150 billion yen worth of stock at Thursday's closing
price of 248 yen would boost the number of NEC's shares
outstanding by 30 percent.

NEC, which competes with Fujitsu Ltd (6702.T) in telecom and
IT services equipment, would use some of the funds raised to
invest more in growth areas such as in lithium-ion batteries for
next-generation cars and in cloud computing, the sources said.

NEC will be joining a rush of firms tapping resurgent equity
markets for funds. Japanese companies have sold $38 billion worth
of shares so far this year, an almost five-fold increase from
$8.7 billion a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Shares of NEC, which has a battery joint venture with
automaker Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), hit an eight-month low on
Thursday, having shed 60 percent since a peak in June.
($1=90.60 Yen)
(Additional reporting by Kentaro Hamada; Editing by Hans Peters)