SouthGobi Energy Resources may raise as much as USD446.6 million in its Hong Kong share sale. The Vancouver-based energy supplier plans to sell shares at the maximum price of the Hong Kong dollar equivalent of CAD17 each, say observers.

SouthGobi is raising capital to finance exploration, expand, and build production plants and infrastructure as it aims to increase output and supply customers in China. The company plans to sell 27 million new shares, or a 16.8 percent stake, an e-mail sent to fund managers early this month said.

SouthGobi is controlled by Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., whose Chairman Robert Friedland has said that the underdeveloped resources of Mongolia could make it “the Saudi Arabia of coal”.