News: MQG UPDATE 1-Australia's Macquarie raises A$1.53 billion - sources

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Australian investment conglomerate Macquarie Group (MQG) has priced its shares at A$194 each to raise A$1.53 billion, two people with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.

The Sydney-headquartered firm launched the deal on Friday to sell 7.9 million shares as it revealed it had more than doubled its first-half profit https://www.reuters.com/article/macquarie-group-results/australias-macquarie-posts-record-profit-to-step-up-green-investments-idUSKBN2HI2XJ to A$2.04 billion.

The sources asked not to be named as the information has not been made public.

Macquarie did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

The firm's stock is due to resume trading Monday after trading was halted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Friday when the deal was launched.

Raising A$1.53 billion will take Macquarie's stack of surplus capital to almost A$10 billion, while the funds it manages have a separate $A27.9 billion in equity "dry powder" to deploy, chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake said on Friday.

At A$194, the price is a 1.9% discount to Macquarie's closing share price on Thursday.