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State-owned China Tower trades flat on Hong Kong debut
HONG KONG, Aug 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – State-owned China Tower — the world’s
largest operator of telecommunications towers — kicked off its trading debut
in Hong Kong Wednesday in the latest high-profile listing in the city.
Shares were trading at HK$1.28 ($0.16) in the morning, only slightly up on
their IPO price of HK$1.26.
China Tower is the world’s largest IPO since Postal Savings Bank of China’s
$7.6 billion offering in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
But although Hong Kong’s recent listings have grabbed headlines, investor
confidence has been overshadowed by US-China trade tensions and falling
global markets.
China Tower raised $6.9 billion after pricing its initial public offering
at the low end of the expected range.
The Beijing-based telecoms giant is the second prominent company to price
at the low end recently, following Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s
disappointing valuation in July.
Some observers say investors may see China Tower as a safe bet on the
country’s mobile market because of its government backing.
But others argue the state-backed monopoly could face limited growth due to
lack of competition.
The muted trading price was “reasonable” given market conditions, said
Jackson Wong of Huarong International Securities.
China Tower would enjoy favourable policies as a strategic asset,
particularly given China’s push for next generation 5G wireless internet
technology and that would benefit investors in the future, said Wong.
While Wong described the stock as “old-economy and not really sexy” it
could still be profitable to investors.
“It’s a pretty simple business model and China is trying to push 5G, so we
should see dividend-paying very soon,” he said.
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Chinese telecoms companies Huawei and ZTE are poised to become global
leaders in the 5G rollout, which is beginning this year in several countries.
However, they are likely to face severely tightened access to the US market
over data security.
The technology is heavily cloud-based, potentially leaving sensitive data
accessible by the service provider.
China Tower was established by China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom
in 2014. They agreed to combine their tower assets by selling them to China
Tower in 2015.
Speaking at Wednesday’s launch in Hong Kong, China Tower chief executive
Tong Jilu noted that the company had just celebrated its fourth birthday.
“Today is our new milestone,” he said of the stocks debut.
Hillhouse Capital, affiliates of China National Petroleum Corp and Taobao –
– a subsidiary of Alibaba — are reported to be among the 10 cornerstone
investors.
The company said at its IPO launch event in Hong Kong in July that
“international companies and giant domestic companies” were among the
cornerstone investors.
Hong Kong is seeking to become a destination for major IPOs after being
snubbed by Alibaba’s overseas listing in 2014.
Since then, listing rules have been overhauled to allow weighted voting
rights for different sets of shareholders.
Xiaomi was the first firm in Hong Kong to trade with the controversial
dual-class structure.
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