China's telecom giants sell $33.71bn in assets to tower joint venture

China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have agreed to sell and transfer assets worth RMB214 billion (US$33.71 billion) to China Tower Corp., a joint venture between the three state-owned telecommunications network operators, South China Morning Post reported. The firms will sell their assets at appraised values that represent premiums to book values of 20% for China Mobile, 18.1% for Unicom and 17.6% for China Telecom, according to a Barclays report. The asset infusion is expected to aid the joint venture’s drive to reduce redundant telecom towers and other such infrastructure in China while also providing a one-off gain for each of the operators’ earnings this year.