UPDATE 1-PaperlinX raises A$150 mln in share sale

(Adds company, analyst comments)

By Sonali Paul

MELBOURNE, Oct 7 (Reuters) - PaperlinX Ltd (PPX.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Australia's top paper maker and trader, said on Tuesday it had raised about A$150 million ($109 million) in an institutional share offer, priced at a 29 percent discount to its last trade.

The raising, carried out in the midst of a global share market rout, fell short of the company's target of A$200 million, which it wanted to raise in order to pare its debt facility by A$150 million by May.

"We're pretty happy to have A$150 million, and that's covered that debt facility and removes the overhang on that," said PaperlinX spokesman David Shirer.

The offer price was set at A$1.25 per new share, the bottom end of an indicative price range. PaperlinX said it aims to raise a further A$77 million in a retail offer which opens on Tuesday.

PaperlinX shares dropped 29 percent to A$1.25 on resuming trade following a six-day trading halt, but recovered to trade at A$1.28 by 2324 GMT.

The capital raising was seen as crucial for PaperlinX, which last year was hit by a triple whammy of weak paper demand, rising input costs and the impact of a strong Australian dollar which made competing paper imports cheap.

Looking to beef up its balance sheet, PaperlinX also put its Australian Paper business, valued on its books at A$1.1 billion, up for sale last month, but analysts said the equity raising suggested PaperlinX was having difficulty securing a buyer.

"It seems apparent that the raising has been conducted in the absence of an attractive offer for the Australian Paper assets, which would have served as the alternative method of reducing debt levels," JP Morgan analysts said in a note last week.

Shirer said the Australian Paper sale process was continuing and there was no deadline for making a decision.

PaperlinX also expects to sell several European properties this year, looking to make a profit of more than A$20 million on those sales, which the company warned was essential to satisfying its lenders.

The company said in the offer prospectus that "there could be a material adverse impact on PaperlinX's financial performance and its performance against financial covenants," if the European property sales did not meet its target, and it failed to gain from higher paper prices and a weaker Australian dollar.

Shirer said that was a worst case scenario. "That is not our expectation," he said.

PaperlinX last week appointed Mark Hooper as chief financial officer, replacing David Lamont. Hooper was previously CFO at Symbion Health Ltd., now owned by Primary Healthcare (PRY.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (SIP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). ($1=A$1.38) (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by James Thornhill)