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China Telecom Corporation Limited announced Thursday that it will offer 16.8 billion H shares globally for the upcoming listing in Hong Kong and New York.
The company, the leading wireline telephone service provider inShanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, is expected to raise approximately 3.1 billion US dollars in the global offering.
The Hong Kong public offer, which consists of 840 million H shares, will start Friday and will end next Wednesday. The initialprice range for each H share for public offering is between 1.47 HK dollars (19 US cents) and 1.69 HK dollars (22 US cents).
H shares will be represented by American depositary shares (ADS)for the New York listing. ADS and H shares will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 6. and on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on Nov. 7, respectively.
Addressing the press conference held Thursday in Hong Kong by video wire, Zhou Deqiang, chairman and chief executive officer of China Telecom, said the proposed listing is a strategic move to transform China Telecom into a modern and market-oriented company.
Consistent with the company's key strategic objectives, the proceeds from the global offering will be used to expand and upgrade Telecom network infrastructure, improve business operationsupporting systems, develop Telecom applications and technologies and acquire businesses from the parent company, China Telecom Group.
The company intends to recommend an annual dividend of 0.065 HKdollars per H share for 2002 and 2003 each.
Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2002)
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