Wesfarmers Australia mulls capital raising-paper

SYDNEY, April 17 (Reuters) - Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd (WES.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) is considering a multi-billion dollar equity raising as part of a re-financing of short-term debt, the Australian Financial Review newspaper reported on Thursday.

The plan follows Wesfarmers' A$18 billion ($17 billion) acquisition of the Coles retailing group last year. It has around A$3.3 billion to refinance by October for the acquisition.

The business daily said Wesfarmers has been hit hard by the sharp deterioration in credit markets, and a poor outcome to a recent U.S. bond issue is believed to have changed its view on using equity to help with the refinancing.

The U.S. bond debut offer raised less than anticipated, at a higher cost and included protection measures to investors, market sources told Reuters earlier this month (see [ID:nSYD149988].

Investment banks including Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), GoldmanSachsJBWere, ABN AMRO AAH.AS and Macquarie Group (MQG.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) were thought to be lining up as underwriters, the paper said.

The Wesfarmers board has yet to approve the plans, it said. A Wesfarmers spokesman was quoted as saying the group was examining a range of options. ($1=A$1.06) (Reporting by Michael Byrnes)