The equity raising consists of a $96.4 million “2-for-5” accelerated renounceable pro-rata entitlement offer at an issue price of 40c per new Cockatoo share, plus a $54.4 million institutional share placement.

The price for the institutional placement will be determined through a bookbuild with an underwritten floor price of 43c per share.

Both prices are a considerable discount to Cockatoo’s last trading price, which was 54c before the company went into a trading halt this morning.

The institutional entitlement offer opens and closes today, while the institutional shortfall bookbuild and placement is scheduled for tomorrow.

Cockatoo also plans to unveil a retail entitlement offer, with a booklet to be dispatched to eligible retail shareholders on September 23.

The new shares issued under the institutional offer are expected to start normal trading the next day, while the shares issued under the retail offer are due to start trading on October 22.

The consortium, consisting of Cockatoo, Korea Electric Power Corporation and steelmaker Posco, struck conditional agreements with AAMC for the coal leases in July.

Cockatoo recently entered into an exclusivity arrangement to give Japanese trading house Mitsui the first chance to purchase additional stakes in the Collingwood and Ownaview open cut thermal coal projects in Queensland’s Surat Basin, two of the assets from the AAMC deal.

Mitsui already owns a 49% stake in both projects, and the exclusivity period runs up to March 11, 2011.