Athabasca Oil Sands said it will raise at least C$1.35 billion (US$1.32 billion) in Canada's biggest initial public offering in years, a clear sign investor interest in the country's oil sands has rebounded.

Athabasca, which is developing Alberta oil sands projects in partnership with PetroChina, said it will sell 75 million shares at C$18 each through a syndicate of underwriters led by Morgan Stanley Canada and GMP Securities, according to a Reuters report.

If an overallotment option is exercised, the value of the offering could top C$1.55 billion, the company said. Closing of the deal is expected on 8 April, and the shares will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

According to Thomson Reuters data, it will be the largest initial public offering in Canada since at least 2006, followed by C$1.26 billion raised by Franco-Nevadain 2007 and a C$946 million IPO by Genworth MI Canadain June 2009.

Last year, Athabasca sold interests in its projects for C$1.9 billion to PetroChina, which will help pay for development.

The company has said its oil sands holdings in northern Alberta could contain as much as 7.1 billion barrels of tarry bitumen. The projects, in the MacKay River and Dover areas, could eventually produce as much as 500,000 barrels per day.

The company is floating the stock just as the Canadian oil sands sector is recovering from the economic meltdown, in which C$90 billion of projects were delayed or canceled. In recent months numerous companies have rekindled their investment plans.

The size of the IPO is nearly double the value expected at the start of this month.