China Telecom Corp, a unit of China's biggest fixed-line phone company, halted its initial public offering, launched in late October, after it was cold-shouldered by international investors. Sources close to the company said that although the Hong Kong retail tranche of the shares had been fully subscribed, the international slice had only been 70-80 per cent filled.
The offering was relaunched in November, with the number of shares cut from 16.8bn to 7.56bn while the share price was kept the same, reducing the potential maximum proceeds from the sale from US$3.68bn to US$1.66bn. The international tranche was fully subscribed the second time
around with the backing of Li Ka-shing flagships Cheung Kong(Holdings) and Hutchinson Whampoa. Eventually, the IPO was priced at US$18.98, although it slipped 6 per cent when trading opened in New York.
China Telecom Corp operates fixed-line networks in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.
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