China Unicom brings in private investors

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China Unicom has announced plans to bring in private investment, mainly by issuing shares for companies including China Life and Tencent, in what is a major step of the state firm's mixed-ownership reform.

The state-owned telecommunications operator issued a statement via its listed arm on Wednesday, revealing highlights of its plan of mixed-ownership reform.

The board of the listed China United Network Communications Ltd has approved an issue of shares to the investors, which include Baidu and JD.com and some other firms.

The listed arm will issue no more than 9.04 billion shares to raise as much as 61.73 billion yuan (more than 9 billion US dollars), according to a document released on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

A salesperson of China Unicom waits for customers at a shop in Hong Kong, China March 14, 2016. /Reuters Photo

China Life Insurance will acquire a 10.22 percent stake of the company, while Internet giants Tencent and Baidu will hold 5.18 percent and 3.3 percent of shares respectively.

After the issuance, private investors will hold a total of 35.19 percent of shares, only slightly lower than China Unicom's holding of 36.67 percent.

The listed company's shares stood at 7.47 yuan per share before a suspension in April.

China initiated the mixed-ownership reform to boost the efficiency of SOEs. The reform includes measures such as bringing in multiple types of investors in, exploring flexible and market-based salary systems and selling shares to employees of SOEs.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, about 20 central SOEs piloted the mixed-ownership reform scheme and posted smooth progress.

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency