Shares in iron ore miner and steelmaker Arrium have slumped to an all-time low as it hits investors for more than $750 million to pay down debt.
Arrium shares fell 16.5 cents to 40 cents on Thursday, the lowest level since the company, formerly known as OneSteel, was spun off from BHP in 2000.
The company's shares resumed trading after being placed in a trading halt while Arrium carried out a $465 million capital raising from institutional investors.
It has now launched a $289 million entitlement offer for retail shareholders.
Arrium plans to use the proceeds of the capital raising to pay down some of its $1.7 billion in debt as it responds to a lower iron ore price.
Iron ore prices have dropped around 37 per cent since the start of 2014, to less than $US85 a tonne.
That's particularly bad news for high-cost producers like Arrium, which has an estimated break-even price of around $US73 a tonne.
The entitlement offer prices Arrium's shares at 48 cents, below the 56.5 cents the company's shares were trading at prior to the capital raising.
Analysts say Arrium has been forced to heavily discount the shares to make the offer attractive to investors, given the negative sentiment surrounding high cost iron ore miners.
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