China Mobile to list in Shanghai, fueling 5G ambitions - PingWest

China Mobile to list in Shanghai, fueling 5G ambitions

China Mobile to list in Shanghai, fueling 5G ambitions

Zijing Fu

posted on 21 hours ago

China’s largest wireless carrier has recently received approval from China Securities Regulatory Commission to list in Shanghai.

China Mobile Ltd, one of China’s largest wireless carrier service providers, has recently received approval from China Securities Regulatory Commission to list in Shanghai, according to a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange, where the company also lists.

China Mobile was one of the three Chinese telecom giants to have been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in January this year. NYSE cited guidance from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as the reason.

The move was a result of U.S.’s former president Donald Trump’s series of orders beginning last November, ultimately banning American companies and individuals from investing in Chinese companies the have been determined by the White House as “enable the development and modernization of its military.”

Spokesperson for the China Securities Regulatory Commission condemned U.S.’s move in January, saying “The U.S. implemented the executive order for political purposes, completely disregarding the actual situation of the relevant companies and the legitimate rights and interests of global investors, and seriously disrupting the normal market rules and order.” (Translated by PingWest)

It's unclear whether China Mobile and two other companies affected by the ban — China Telecom and China Unicom actually have ties to China’s People’s Liberation Army. However, it is true that all three wireless carriers are state-backed companies.

China mobile has yet to disclose the specific amount it expects to raise in the Shanghai listing, as it still needs to “conduct preliminary price consultations”, according to its filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company will open subscriptions on December 22.

According to its statement on Tuesday, China mobile said it plans to issue 845.7 million shares. It can be estimated that the total raise would reach billions of dollars, since the company’s stock's closing price in Hong Kong on Monday places 845.7 million shares at 39.16 billion yuan ($5 billion).

In August, China Mobile filed a preliminary prospectus outlining an intent to raise 560 billion yuan ($8.8 billion) for 5G, cloud infrastructure, and smart home projects, according to a CNN report.

China Telecom, one of China Mobile’s strongest rivals listed in Shanghai in August and raised $7.3 billion, making it one of the world's largest this year, according to observations by CNN. It is thus expected that China Mobile’s listing has the potential to become Chinese Mainland’s biggest listing in a decade, as per Yicai Global