China's Dalian Port said on Thursday it has priced its Shanghai initial public offering (IPO) at 3.80 yuan a share, in the middle of an indicated range, raising 5.7 billion yuan ($856.9 million).

Dalian Port, northern China's biggest port operator, had previously set a per-share target range of 3.60 yuan to 4.00 yuan.

The company last month cut its A-share issue size by 37.5 percent from its earlier planned issue of 2.4 billion shares, citing volatile market conditions.

In a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange, Dalian Port said it issued 1.5 billion shares, half of which are Shanghai A-shares, with the other half to be issued to the controlling shareholder Dalian Port Corp Ltd.

Dalian Port previously said the proceeds would be used to acquire assets owned by its controlling shareholder, Dalian Port Corp, including terminals involved in ore, bulk grain, cargo and passenger related business.

Some analysts have said that Dalian's move to downsize its IPO was aimed at lessening the dilutive effect on the company's Hong Kong-listed shares since the reduced A-share issue means Dalian Port's earnings per share would be left unchanged.

Citic Securities is the main underwriter for the IPO.

Dalian Port H shares closed up 2.3 percent at HK$3.49 on Wednesday.