China Unicom Ltd. said Wednesday that it will invest up to RMB 100 bln (or USD 14.58 bln) in 3G wireless services in the next two years.

The company also announced that it will be granted a 3G license upon completion of its merger with China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong), which is part of an industry integration plan disclosed last May by a regulator.

According to the merger jointly disclosed by China Unicom Ltd. and China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) at end June this year, holders of shares in China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) are entitled to swap 1.508 new shares in China Unicom Ltd. for every share held, while holders of ADS in China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) are entitled to swap 3.016 ADS in China Unicom Ltd. for every ADS share held.

An issuance of up to 10.3 bln H-shares is also planned for the aforementioned merger, China Unicom revealed. Following the USD 24 bln merger deal, calculated at a price of HKD 18.48 per H-share on 23 May 2008 prior to trading suspension, China Unicom proposed for China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Unicom and to be renamed China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Nevertheless, the merger and the renaming are subject to approval from shareholders of China Unicom. The meeting schedule is currently unavailable.


Source: chinese.wsj.com

Date: 14 Aug 2008

CN01/FL /SW/BT/KM