Australia's Kagara to get Chinese shareholder-paper

SYDNEY, June 4 (Reuters) - Australian miner Kagara Ltd (KZL.AX) is set to unveil a Chinese investment firm as a cornerstone shareholder as it raises cash to pay off debt and fund growth, the Australian Financial Review said on Thursday.

Citing no sources, the business daily said the investor's identity was unclear, but would not be a mining firm. It would take a 19.9 percent stake in Kagara after the miner raises some A$200 million ($165 million) at about A$0.50 a share, it added.

Kagara's shares have been on a trading halt since Friday, when it announced a planned capital raising. The shares last closed at A$1.185. Kagara has debt of some A$150 million to be refinanced in October in two separate facilities, the paper said, and is also looking for cash to bring its Lounge Lizard nickel mine in western Australia into production. (Reporting by Jonathan Standing; Editing by Mark Bendeich)