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PT Bumi Resources said on Wednesday that sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation could be one of the buyers when the miner offers new shares worth as much as $495 million through a private placement.

In a statement issued on Wednesday in the Investor Daily newspaper, Bumi, Indonesia’s biggest coal producer, said JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich may also pick up shares. CIC was not available for comment.

“The company is still on the edge of finalizing with the creditors, and payment in shares could be made to one or more creditors,” Bumi said.

Reuters reported that the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) asked Bumi to delay any fund-raising from July through September.

However, Dileep Srivastava, the miner’s head of investor relations, later told the Jakarta Globe that the decision to delay the transaction was Bumi’s alone, and that the regulator had simply asked for more details of the proposed placement.

“Bapepam asked us to issue a new announcement naming the potential parties and the mechanics of the debt conversion. We did so today,” Dileep said.

Bumi is the prize asset of the Bakrie Group, a conglomerate controlled by the family of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie. It became Indonesia’s biggest coal producer after acquiring PT Arutmin Indonesia in 2001 and PT Kaltim Prima Coal in 2003.

Last year, Bumi said CIC had lent it $1.9 billion via “debt-like instruments.” Reuters reported in May that CIC would be the main buyer of the placement. At the time Bumi declined to comment on the report.

Bumi’s statement on Wednesday said the share sale would reduce its debt to $5.44 billion from $5.92 billion, including liabilities owed to the Chinese fund.

Few were surprised by Wednesday’s acknowledgement that CIC could take a stake in the company.

“This is what we’ve already expected, that CIC will step in as Bumi’s shareholder through a credit-to-equity swap,” said Edwin Sinaga, president director at local brokerage PT Financorpindo Nusa. “The reason they announced they are also in talks with other creditors is only a way to get a competitive price when negotiating with CIC.”

The company said it would issue 1.94 billion new shares with an indicative price at Rp 2,366 (26 cents) a share, based on the average closing share price over the 25 days before it first announced the share placement on May 24.

Bumi’s shares have fallen 21 percent this year, compared with a 16 percent rise in the Jakarta Composite Index. The company’s shares closed on Wednesday at Rp 1,910, down 1 percent.

Analysts have voiced concerns about the company’s rising debt after an acquisition spree aimed at lifting coal output. Early last year, Bumi announced its purchase of an 80 percent stake in the parent of mining contractor PT Darma Henwa for $222 million. It also paid Rp 1.3 trillion for an 84 percent stake in non-producing miner PT Pendopo Energi Batubara.

“The transaction will result in lower interest costs and this will be reflected probably in the fourth quarter,” said Danny Eugene, an analyst at PT Mega Capital Indonesia.

The share issue may help the mining giant “regain investor confidence and then the stock will be the right choice to buy,” he said.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal and China, a major buyer of the fuel, has been on a worldwide investment spree to ensure adequate supplies of energy and minerals to feed its surging economic growth.