Homegrown 3G rings up investors

A consortium of three foreign private equity investors has invested US$25 million in TD-SCDMA pioneer Datang Mobile by subscribing to its convertible bonds, the South China Morning Post reported. It is the second foray into private equity fund-raising by the developer of China's untested homegrown 3G technology, but the first to attract pure financial investors. The investors are Korea Development Bank's private equity arm, Korean venture capitalist STIC Investments and SeaBright China Special Opportunities, a fund co-owned by US Seagate Global Advisors and China Everbright. The Beijing-based company, which is the sister company of A-share firm Datang Telecom Technology, plans to raise up to US$100 million in private equity by the end of this year, and has targeted an offshore listing in Hong Kong or on the Nasdaq exchange in 2008. The central government has not yet set a timetable for issuing 3G licenses, which have been repeatedly delayed since 2002 amidst concerns over the feasibility of the homegrown standard.