RPT-Ping An vows to move ahead with $21 bln financing plan

(Repeats)

SHANGHAI, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance (2318.HK), the country's second largest life underwriter, said on Friday it will push ahead with its $21 billion capital-raising plan despite a report that Beijing may block the offer.

"We will stick to our plan, which aims to consolidate our capital base, supplement operational capital and finance projects approved by regulators," Ping An (601318.SS) spokesman Sheng Ruisheng told Reuters by phone.

Sheng declined further comments.

The International Finance News, a state-run Chinese business newspaper, cited unnamed sources on Thursday as saying it would be very tough for Ping An to receive regulatory approval for such a large cash call.

"Ping An's 150 billion yuan ($21 billion) financing plan will be very difficult to be realised," said the newspaper, run by People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece.

"Related regulatory departments are concerned about the potential social impact of the fund-raising plan," it said.

Ping An announced at the weekend that it would sell as many as 1.2 billion new local currency A shares and up to 41.2 billion yuan in convertible bonds attached with warrants in China's largest and one of the world's biggest fund-raising plans.

News on the offers, coupled by a collapse in Hong Kong and other overseas stock markets, sent China's main stock index .SSEC plunging 12 percent on Monday and Tuesday. Ping An's shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong have fallen sharply since it announced the plan.

Many retail investors and fund managers question the rationale behind the plan and they are also infuriated by the lack of details on how the company plans to use the proceeds.

There has been speculation that Ping An -- in which global banking giant HSBC (HSBA.L) (0005.HK) has a stake -- wanted to use the proceeds to finance another major overseas acquisition. Ping An last year paid $2.7 billion for a 4.2 percent stake in Dutch-Belgian financial services firm Fortis (FOR.BR).

Some fund managers have threatened to vote down the plan at Ping An's shareholders meeting scheduled for early March.

The plan would also need approvals from several Chinese authorities, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

A CSRC spokesman was not immediately available for comment. ($1=7.2 Yuan) (Reporting by Lu Jianxin, editing by Ken Wills)