- China Telecom Corp. one of the three mainland telecom carriers booted off of the New York stock exchange, is planning to raise 47.1 billion yuan from a listing in Shanghai that is set to be the biggest world so far this year.
The fundraising by China's largest fixed-line operator should exceed 2021's current top float - the $6.3 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong by TikTok-rival Kuaishou Technology in February.
China Telecom was one of three US state-owned companies whose Chinese depositary receipts were delisted in May this year by the New York Stock Exchange, following an executive order issued by former president Donald Trump barring U.S. investments in companies with ties to the Chinese military and commercial interests.
The pivot back home for funds comes as Beijing continues a crackdown on its companies that are listed overseas and as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to ratchet up.
The sale of 10.4 billion A shares in the offering, excluding the greenshoe option, is down from the 12.1 billion shares it said it would initially sell in April.
If Chinese company exercises an over allocation option, the company could raise as much as 54.2 billion yuan from its sale of A-shares, according to a statement on the exchange.
The listing by China Telecom will help it diversify its funding channels, according to analysts. The telecom titan needs to ramp up its financing as it backs China's ambitions for developing investment-rich super-fast 5G networks.
Proceeds from the Shanghai IPO will be used to upgrade a 5 G industrial Internet construction plan, cloud network integration, a new information infrastructure project and research and development, according to China's filing to the Shanghai stock exchange. Joint brokerages CICC and China Securities are the participating sponsors of the listing.
Read more: China Telecom has given down its plan for Bumper Shanghai Share Sale.