Shanghai Electric's application for an initial public offering in Shanghai has been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, company sources said on Wednesday.

No specific date has yet been set for the issue.

The Hong Kong-listed company said earlier that it planned to take over its Shanghai-listed arm, Shanghai Power, through a share swap. Shanghai Electric holds 83.75 percent of the total shares of Shanghai Power.

Shanghai Electric plans to issue 616 million A shares to Shanghai Power's shareholders for the stake it doesn't own. Each Shanghai Power share can be exchanged for 7.32 new shares to be issued by Shanghai Electric at 4.78 yuan (70 US cents) each.

After the merger, Shanghai Electric will own 9.534 billion A shares and 2.973 billion H shares. Shanghai Power will be delisted.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2008)