Jul. 1--TOKYO -- Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday it will raise fresh funds of up to 600 billion yen through public offerings of new common shares in the domestic and overseas markets as part of its recapitalization plan.

The new share issuance is expected to raise the banking group's capital adequacy ratio by about 1 percentage point on a consolidated basis and help expand lending capacity.

The group estimated in May that it had maintained the adequacy ratio at over 10 percent as of the end of March, above the internationally required 8 percent.

Under the plan, the group will offer about 2.8 billion shares.

Depending on demand, it would float some 200 million more shares, bringing the total number to 3 billion shares, which will account for some 26.8 percent of all outstanding shares.

The group will decide on the price of shares between July 15 and 17. The paid-in date will be set five trading days after the price is announced.

In mid-May, when Mizuho reported a group net loss of around 590 billion yen for fiscal 2008 that ended in March, the financial group announced a recapitalization plan.

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