China Mobile Ltd (中國移動), the world’s biggest phone carrier by market value, fell in Hong Kong trading after the Sunday Times said Vodafone Group Plc is preparing to sell its stake in the company.
Following the report shares in China Mobile dropped 1.2 percent to close at HK$80.65, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 0.7 percent.
Vodafone chief executive officer Vittorio Colao approved a plan to sell its stake in China Mobile for more than £4 billion (US$6.2 billion), the London-based Sunday Times newspaper reported yesterday, citing investors it didn’t identify.
Newbury, England-based Vodafone may look for a strategic partner or could sell its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange, according to the report.
“Regarding Vodafone’s stake in China Mobile, the lock-up period has expired, so Vodafone has the right to decide whether or not to sell the shares,” Rainie Lei (雷雨), a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for China Mobile, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Vodafone spokesman Bobby Leach declined to comment on the report yesterday.
Vodafone held about 3.2 percent of China Mobile’s outstanding shares as of April 30, according to the Chinese company’s annual report.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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