UPDATE 1-NWR mining group seeks 300 mln euros in IPO

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PRAGUE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - New World Resources, the parent company of Czech black coal mining group OKD, will seek to raise 300 million euros in an initial public offering by the end of 2007, a source close to the deal told Reuters on Thursday.

That would represent the biggest placement ever on the Prague Stock Exchange, which has had only three IPOs in its history.

NWR said it had picked Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Patria Finance to lead manage the IPO.

Spokesman Joe Cook refused to comment on the expected size of the IPO.

The source said the offering should be executed this year, most probably in mid-December.

The shares should be placed in Prague and London, the source said. It added a listing on other markets including Warsaw had been considered, but would most probably take place later.

Netherlands-based New World Resources B.V. is a holding company for four wholly owned Czech companies in coal and coke mining, coal transport, and the gas and energy industries.

Czech businessman Zdenek Bakala owns a 50 percent stake in RPG Industries, which holds 81 percent of NWR.

In March, Bakala said the plan was to float up to a third of shares in NWR. The company has said the offering would combine new and existing stock.

The group's biggest asset is OKD a.s., a black coal mining company, which produced about 13.5 million tons of coal from its five mines last year and announced a net profit of 3.57 billion crowns.