China Tower is seeking a valuation of up to $ 40 billion through the IPO
Chinese state-owned telecommunications tower company China Tower filed an application for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE), seeking a valuation of up to $40 billion, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
According to the report, the launch of the IPO could raise as much as $10 billion for the Chinese infrastructure firm. China Tower has yet to set a date for the IPO.
China Tower was formed in 2015, when the country’s mobile carrier China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom transferred their telecom towers — worth an estimated $36 billion — to the new company. The three telcos decided to create the new entity in a move to reduce redundant construction of telecommunications infrastructure across the country. China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom currently own a 38%, 28.1% and 27.9% stake respectively. State-owned asset manager China Reform Holding owns the remaining 6%.
The IPO is being led by China International Capital Corporation and Goldman Sachs. The process was initially expected to take place early this year, but the IPO was delayed due to regulatory issues. It is now expected to take place in the second half of the year, according to the report.
China Tower is the world’s largest tower company. The firm operated a total of 1.9 million tower sites and had 2.7 million tenants at the end of 2017. Last year, China Tower recorded revenues of CNY68.7 billion ($10.8 billion), climbing nearly 23% compared to the previous year. Annual profits for full 2017 amounted to CNY1.9 billion.
India’s Department of Telecom approves Bharti Airtel-Telenor merger
In other APAC news, India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) has approved the planned merger between local carriers Telenor India and Bharti Airtel, which will create a new mobile firm with a subscriber base of around 334 million.
In February 2017, Bharti Airtel agreed to acquire full control of Telenor’s Indian operation. The transaction is expected to allow Bharti Airtel to strengthen its competitive position in seven key telecom circles.
Telenor currently offers service across the circles of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujurat, Uttar Pradesh East, and UP West. It also owns spectrum in Assam.
Under terms of the deal, Airtel will take over Telenor India’s spectrum, licenses and operations, including its employees and customer base of around 44 million connections. Airtel also said it will take over outstanding spectrum payments and other operational contracts, including tower lease. With the acquisition, Bharti Airtel will acquire an additional 43.4 megahertz of spectrum in the 1800-MHz band, spread across seven of India’s 22 telecoms circles.
Bharti Airtel currently provides telecoms services in 17 countries across Asia and Africa. In India, the operator’s portfolio includes 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high-speed broadband and enterprise services.
