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By P.R. Venkat
China Mobile Ltd. is planning to raise $7.64 billion through a listing in Shanghai, which would be one of the largest equity fund raisings so far this year.
The company is planning to issue 845.70 million shares and will sell each share for 57.58 yuan ($9.03), the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers said Tuesday.
China Mobile’s stock offering comes after it and domestic rivals China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. lost appeals against being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
The NYSE action was taken to comply with an investment blacklist introduced under former President Donald Trump, which bars Americans from investing in Chinese companies that the U.S. says aid China’s military, intelligence and security services.
In August this year, China Telecom had raised over $7 billion through a Shanghai listing.
China Mobile has an over-allotment option to sell an additional 126.86 million shares, which if exercised can take the offer size to nearly $8.8 billion.
China Mobile, which first announced its intentions for a Shanghai listing in May, didn’t say that the offer was linked to the U.S. delisting.
Chinese authorities have more broadly wanted to make it easier for domestic investors to invest in more of China’s corporate champions and its fast-growing technology companies.
The telecoms group had said that it plans to spend the deal’s proceeds on projects such as faster mobile networks, new cloud infrastructure and superfast broadband.
A growing number of Chinese companies are raising funds on the mainland or in Hong Kong, hoping to tap investors who are more familiar with their businesses and willing to pay a premium for their shares.
The issue price was determined based on several factors including the fundamentals of the company, valuation of comparable companies, and market conditions, China Mobile said.
Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com
