Merchants Property plans $1.1 bln share sale

SHANGHAI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Merchants Property Development Co (000024.SZ) said on Tuesday it planned to raise up to 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) this year in an offer of new shares to the public and institutional investors.

The mid-sized property developer, based in the southern city of Shenzhen, did not say exactly when it aimed to conduct the offer, which would need the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Chinese authorities are seeking to cool the real estate market through taxes and other administrative measures and there is speculation that they may delay new share sales by property developers as part of this campaign.

Merchants Property said it would use proceeds of the offer to buy land-use rights near Shenzhen from its parent group. The land has an appraised value of 2.6 billion yuan but that figure may change, the company said.

The shares in the offer will be priced at no less than the stock's average market price in the 20 trading days before the release of the offer prospectus, or no less than the average price on the day before the release, it said.

The stock last closed at 65.00 yuan, valuing the company at 40.2 billion yuan. ($1 = 7.15 yuan) (Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by David Holmes)