NEW YORK-In a move apparently intended to get ahead of the crowd, Hutchison Telecommunications Australia Ltd., Sydney, announced July 12 it plans to sell 29.5 percent of the company in a $215 million initial public offering next month.
The Australian branch of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. is building a $500 million Code Division Multiple Access-based network. It expects to launch commercial service next year, becoming the fifth wireless services provider in Australia.
Half the proceeds of the 140 million share IPO will help finance these capital costs and the rest will be used to repay debt.
Salomon Smith Barney Australia Securities Pty. Ltd. and Warburg Dillon Read Australia Ltd. will jointly manage the carrier’s initial public offering, whose shares will trade on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Telstra Corp. Ltd., which has 2.2 million Global System for Mobile communications and CDMA customers, plans to go to market in October with a second public stock offering. The Australian government owns 67 percent of Telstra, the largest wireless carrier in the country.
Vodafone Holdings Australia Pty., which has about 971,000 customers on its GSM 900 network, also plans a stock sale later this year.
Hutchison plans to offer its Australian customers a service that allows them to make untimed local calls within their homes and to use the same handsets for mobile wireless calls in Sydney and Melbourne.
Barry Roberts-Thomson, managing director of HTA, said the company plans to use the Orange plc brand, which has proven popular in Great Britain, Europe and Hong Kong. Hutchison Whampoa owns Orange plc, which is headquartered in Bristol, England.
