The product of a 2003 merger of coal trader China National Coal Industry Import and Export Group and China Coal Construction, Beijing-based China National Coal is estimated to be worth 41.5 billion yuan.
The group is reportedly hiring financiers to prepare a Hong Kong stock listing to fund expansion of output as China's coal shortage persists, Reuters reported.
Investment banks including Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Citigroup took part in a so-called beauty parade last week to select underwriters for the issue.
The listing would follow Shenhua Group’s planned Hong Kong IPO, expected to raise an estimated $US1.5 billion. The company may list in Hong Kong and on another overseas exchange.
China International Capital Corp, China’s first Sino-foreign joint venture investment bank, has been recruited to advise China Coal on a restructuring for a listing, South China Morning Post reported.
China's coal consumption this year is expected to expand 6% to 2.1 billion tonnes, according to estimates by the China Coal Industry Association.
