From Bloomberg:Resourcehouse Ltd., controlled by billionaire...

From Bloomberg:

Resourcehouse Ltd., controlled by billionaire Clive Palmer, may seek as much as A$1.9 billion ($2 billion) debt to develop its West Australian iron ore mine after its initial public offering in Hong Kong next month.

The company wants at least one Chinese company to provide or arrange debt to fund about 70 percent of the cost of the building the initial stage of the China First iron ore project, the Brisbane, Australia-based company said in its IPO prospectus. The first stage may cost A$2.7 billion, according to the prospectus.

Resourcehouse, which also plans to develop the China First coal project in Queensland state, plans to raise as much as $3.6 billion in the IPO that it started marketing today. Palmer, a 57-year-old law school dropout who made his first fortune in real estate, has mulled a share sale since at least 2009.

Any financing deal needs the approval of Mineralogy Pty, a closely held company chaired by Palmer, according to the prospectus.

The company plans to sell at least 5.7 billion shares at HK$4.48 (57.6 cents) to HK$4.93 each and may sell 857 million more shares through an over-allotment option. Resourcehouse issued a statement at a news conference in Hong Kong yesterday. Palmer will retain a 53.67 percent stake in the company if the over allotment option isn?t exercised..

BOC International Holdings Ltd., HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS AG are managing the sale.

Resourcehouse will turn to profit in 2014 or 2015 when the projects commence, Palmer said yesterday. The company expects to report a loss in the year ending June 30, 2011.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Keenan at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs at [email protected]