* Sydbank sells 6.75 million new shares at 130 crowns/share
* Gross proceeds of placement 877.5 mln crowns ($172.5 mln)
* Bank says on track to meet 2009 forecasts
* Shares end down 1.6 pct at 135 crowns, above offer price
(Releads with outcome of placement)
By Mette Fraende
COPENHAGEN, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Sydbank, Denmark's third-largest bank, raised 877.5 million crowns ($172.5 million) through a private placement of new stock on Tuesday and said it was confident it would meet its 2009 earnings guidance.
The bank sold 6.75 million new shares at 130 crowns per share in the offering to domestic and international institutions, Sydbank said in a statement.
The price was at a discount of 5.3 percent to Monday's closing of 137.25 crowns.
Sydbank shares closed down 1.6 percent at 135.0 crowns shortly before the pricing was announced.
"The offering ... has been successfully concluded via an accelerated bookbuilding," Sydbank A/S said in the statement.
The new shares correspond to 9.99 percent of Sydbank's oustanding share capital before the issue, it said.
The date of payment against delivery is expected to be Sept. 21, and the new stock should begin trading on the bourse on Sept. 23, Sydbank said.
The bank said it had had a robust performance during the first two months of the third quarter and was on target to reach an earlier full-year forecast of core earnings before impairment of 1.8 billion to 2 billion Danish crowns ($354-393 million).
Analysts welcomed the share placement as a sign that the bank would escape resorting to state aid.
"This is a positive signal from Sydbank. It is a signal that they can stand on their own feet and that will be important in one year when the crisis is hopefully over," said Jyske Bank analyst Christian Hede.
He said Sydbank would avoid some of the unpleasant consequences of taking state aid, such as high interest payments and possible future limitations on decision-making.
In the midst of the financial crisis the Danish government has come to the aid of troubled banks by offering them hybrid core capital.
BEEFING UP FOR ACQUISITIONS
The issue will give Sydbank capital to participate in expected consolidation of the Danish banking industry and the option of avoiding hybrid capital provided by the state, the bank said.
In July and August the bank had seen growth in total core income running at a similar rate to that which it reported for the first half of 2009, it said.
Danske Markets, a division of Danske Bank, and J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd are acting as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the offering. ($1=5.086 Danish crowns) (Additional reporting by Ole Mikkelsen and John Acher; Editing by Greg Mahlich and David Cowell)