Dalian Port to buy $278 mln stake in Jinzhou Port

SHANGHAI, June 25 (Reuters) - Dalian Port plans to buy an 18.9 percent stake in Jinzhou Port (600190.SS) for about 1.91 billion yuan ($278 million) to become its second-biggest shareholder and a strategic partner, Jinzhou Port said on Wednesday.

Jinzhou Port will sell 246 million new shares to Dalian Port at 7.77 yuan each and will use the proceeds to expand port capacity and repay bank loans, the firm said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The partnership between the port operators, both based in northeast China's Liaoning province, would help to improve Jinzhou Port's finances and bolster its competitivess, the statement said.

Jinzhou Port's shares have been suspended since May 28 and last closed at 9.03 yuan, for a gain of more than 8 percent since the start of the year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC has fallen about 17 percent since the suspension and is down more than 45 percent since the start of the year.

Dalian Port is the parent company of Dalian Port Co Ltd (2880.HK). (US$=6.87 Yuan) (Reporting by Samuel Shen; Editing by Edmund Klamann)