BEIJING-Hong Kong- and New York-listed China Unicom has acquired nine GSM networks from its parent company at a cost of CNY22.5 billion (US$2.72 billion). The carrier will pay CNY4.8 billion (US$580 million) in cash and take over CNY17.7 billion (US$2.17 billion) of debt from its parent China United Telecommunications Corporation.
The company already owns 12 networks in the richest provinces of China and is now adding networks in the provinces of Guangxi, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jiangxi, Jilin, Shaanxi and Sichuan, the autonomous region of Xinjiang and the municipality of Chongqing, which has provincial status. The nine networks have around 15 million subscribers.
Following the transaction, parent company China United Telecommunications Corporation still retains nine networks, which the listed company eventually also plans to acquire. China Unicom is also leasing capacity on its parent’s CDMA-network.
