The Shanghai-listed shipping company said the private sale will see up to 118.421m shares sold at CNY 7.6 each, giving it CNY 900m ($145.4m).

Of this, CNY 700m will go towards repaying bank loans and the rest for working capital.

The company, which has nine vessels, said last year it was releasing 99.31m shares into the market, equating to a 36.33% stake.