China Mobile to issue decade's biggest IPO in China
Next week, China Mobile will release its initial public offering and online subscription on the Shanghai main stock market board, making it the most prominent Chinese capital IPO of the decade.
China’s largest telecom carrier was removed from the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year due to a ban ordered by former President Donald Trump.
As such, the world’s sixth-largest mobile service provider by subscriber base plans to issue about 845.7 million shares. Based on the last close of its Hong Kong-listed stock, the figure would be the equivalent of around $5 billion. However, market observers said that China stocks usually trade at a hefty premium to their counterparts across the border.
China Mobile announced On Tuesday its latest IPO plan. At the same time, it has been approved to be listed on the Shanghai exchange with the issuance of 846 million shares, accounting for 3.97 percent of its total shares. At the same time, it will start online subscriptions for retail investors on December 22.
In addition, the carrier didn’t mention detailed IPO pricing and listing dates but based on online subscription dates, it’s expected to open in December.
The telco’s IPO size is expected to hit $8.75 billion, higher than China Telecom’s $8.4 billion and SMIC’s 53.2 billion yuan. It comes in behind the Agricultural Bank of China’s IPO of $1.5 billion in 2010.
The IPO will help China Mobile develop and invest in 5G, cloud technology, and the Internet of Things.
It is worth mentioning that China Mobile, along with other China’s most prominent tech and telecom firms, listed their shares on U.S. stock markets in the early 2000s as they sought access to more funding, but since then, the political tide has turned.
In August, China Mobile had filed an initial list outlining an intent to raise $87 billion to expand its 5G, cloud infrastructure, and innovative home projects.
In January, the NYSE suspended trading in China Mobile and the Asian nation’s other major state-owned operators, China Telecom Corp, and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd.
In August, shares of China Telecom debuted in Shanghai in a listing that raised $7.3 billion. China Unicom has listed shares of a subsidiary in Shanghai since 2002.