China Mobile to raise $7.64 billion in Shanghai listing
After losing appeals for being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), state-owned operator, China Mobile Ltd. revealed intentions of raising $7.64 billion in a Shanghai listing on Tuesday.
The move will mark the largest equity fundraisings for 2021 and came due to the NYSE decision to adhere to an investment blacklist presented by former President Donald Trump’s administration and is still in action under President Biden’s presidency.
The investment blacklist prohibits any American investor or company from pumping money into certain Chinese tech companies under the pretense of affiliation in aiding China’s military, intelligence, and security services.
Now, the state-backed telco plans to release 845.70 million shares, with an estimate of $9.03 per share. In parallel, the firm has an overallotment window to put another 126.86 million shares on the market, which can estimate to be almost $8.8 billion.
On Tuesday’s early morning trading, the mobile operator ended its trading hours in Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) at $5.97, a higher listing price than its Shanghai listing.
However, this is not the first time China Mobile has unveiled the plan for its latest listing. Earlier in May, the telco publicized intentions of the listing but never disclosed any association with the U.S. delisting.
China Mobile’s competitor, China Telecom, raised in August 2021 more than $7 billion in a Shanghai listing.
As for Beijing, the government has explicitly publicized intents of further supporting investors interested in pumping capital into some of China’s most prominent corporate firms and the upsurging technology companies.
In a statement addressing the latest listing, the service provider disclosed that would direct all proceedings at certain projects, such as enhancing mobile network speed, new cloud infrastructure, and faster broadband.
According to China Mobile, the issuance pricing was established in coherence with significant factors, such as the fundamentals of the telco, valuation of potential companies, and market conditions.
These not-so-sudden changes are emerging to the scene as Chinese companies hasten their pace in raising funds on the mainland and Hong Kong in the hope to attract investors with direct relation with their businesses and willful to pay a premium for the shares.