By : Nahla Ahmed – Mohamed El Kholy
The world's largest mobile operator by subscribers, China Mobile has approved plans for a potential $6.06 billion listing in Shanghai Stock Exchange. As part of that plan, the Chinese state-owned company will issue up to 964.8 million shares or 4.5% of its total issued shares.
According to a report in the Global Times, the funds raised from its listing in the A-share market will be used in a series of projects including 5G boutique network rollout, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and next-generation mobile communication technologies such as 6G, involving a total of 56 billion yuan ($8.71 billion).
The company said that if the actual funds raised fall short of the amount needed, the company will supply the rest from internal resources or money raised from other sources.
The planned share sale in Shanghai may make the nation’s largest wireless telecom operator the first red-chip company to trade A-shares on the Chinese stock market’s mainboard.
China Mobile’s plan to enter the mainland A-share market follows a similar move by Hong Kong-traded rival China Telecom Corp. Ltd., which said in March that it plans a Shanghai main board offering that could raise $4 billion.
Both companies are being kicked off the New York Stock Exchange after former U.S. President Donald Trump issued a November executive order barring American funds and investors from owning stock in companies believed by the government to have ties to the Chinese military.
However, China Mobile didn’t say the Shanghai offering was linked to the U.S. delisting. China Mobile will hold a meeting for shareholders in Hong Kong on June 9 to seek approval for the proposal.
