China Telecom eyes US$8.4b Shanghai IPO, world's biggest in 2021

China Telecom could raise more than US$8 billion in a Shanghai initial public offering that would be the biggest this year, months after it was delisted in the United States.

The firm said it had priced its offer at 4.53 yuan (70 US cents) per share, which would be worth 47.1 billion yuan, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Friday.

China Telecom was delisted by the New York Stock Exchange in January along with fellow state-owned telecoms firms China Mobile and China Unicom following an executive order by former US President Donald Trump.

China Telecom is the country's largest fixed-line operator, and the share issue would be the biggest of the year, topping the US$5.4 billion raised in Hong Kong by Kuaishou Technology in February.

Many of China's biggest tech and telecom firms listed their shares on the US stock markets in the 2000s as they sought access to funding, but the tide has been turning.

China is in the midst of a digital transformation drive, and proceeds from the Shanghai listing will be used for 5G and cloud-network infrastructure, among other initiatives, the exchange filing said.