China's largest wireless carrier by revenue, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd has received the green light from Beijing regulators for what is shaping up to be the largest IPO in Shanghai in more than a decade.
The Chinese state-owned company received the regulatory nod to issue A-shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange months after it was kicked out of New York Stock Exchange due to an investment ban ordered by former President Donald Trump.
According to the prospectus, 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 CNY39.16 billion ($5 billion), although China stocks usually trade at a hefty premium to their counterparts across the border, said market observers.
China Mobile also said that a price will be set following a roadshow with investors.
Proceeds from the listing in the Chinese financial hub will be used to fund 5 G network expansion, cloud infrastructure, smart living projects, and tech development that will cost the company 157 billion yuan in total, China Mobile said in its prospectus.
China International Capital Corp. and Citic Securities Co. are sponsors of China Mobile’s A-share IPO. The main underwriters include Huatai United Securities Co., BOC International (China) Co., and China Merchants Securities Co.
In August, China Mobile had filed a preliminary prospectus outlining an intent to raise CNY560 billion for the expansion of its 5G, cloud infrastructure, and smart home projects.
The NYSE suspended trading in China Mobile in January, along with the Asian nation’s other major state-owned operators, China Telecom Corp and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd.
Shares of China Telecom, the country's biggest fixed-line operator, debuted in Shanghai in August in a listing that raised $7.3 billion. China Unicom has listed shares of a subsidiary in Shanghai since 2002.
China Mobile has over 20,000 patents with an advanced patent pool of telecommunications (5G), digital certification, and information and data recommendation.
