(Xinhua via NewsEdge) China Communication Services has raised 2.84 billion Hong Kong dollars ($365.4 million) by selling 1.29 billion H shares for its initial public offering at the Hong Kong stock exchange last Friday.
It is the first production services company in China's communication sector to list on the Hong Kong bourse.
The company, a subsidiary of China Telecom, was incorporated in August with a registered capital of 3.96 billion yuan ($495 million) and net assets of 6.01 billion yuan ($768 million).
It mainly does construction work for telecom operators including China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Netcom. It is also a service provider for government agencies, equipment manufacturers and many large enterprises.
The listing of China Communication Services in Hong Kong provides a good example of how a large state-owned enterprise such as China Telecom can reform its subsidiaries, according to sources with the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
China Telecom, the country's leading telecom operator, began restructuring in August 2000, creating 31 new companies at the provincial level.
Six of the 31 companies' service sectors were amalgamated to form China Communication Services during the telecom giant's next rounds of restructuring that began in October 2005.
© 2006 Xinhua News Agency
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