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China Mobile to be 'rational' on takeovers

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-19 10:25

China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest phone company by market value, will be "rational" and not "aggressive" in making overseas acquisitions, Chairman Wang Jianzhou said.

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Emerging-market phone asset prices are "inexpensive", providing little incentive for owners to sell, Wang told reporters in Macao yesterday. The Beijing-based company doesn't have an acquisition target at present, he said.

China Mobile, with net cash of 176 billion yuan ($25.8 billion) at the end of June, may buy emerging-market phone companies to diversify as domestic competition increases after a government plan to reorganize carriers in the world's biggest telecommunications market. The Chinese company faces competition from carriers including Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and Telekom Malaysia Bhd to acquire overseas assets.

Lower prices of emerging market-companies have enticed cash-rich buyers such as China Mobile to seek acquisitions. The MSCI Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Index has declined 49 percent this year.

China Mobile Communications Corp, which owns 74 percent of Hong Kong-listed China Mobile, is interested in expanding in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Wang said in April. The parent company will consider investing in minority holdings in addition to controlling stakes, said Wang.

Last year, China Mobile Communications bought Pakistan's Paktel Ltd, its first acquisition outside China, for about $460 million.

China Mobile Communications may buy more shares of China Mobile if the stock price drops below the "the company's value", Wang said yesterday at the Mobile Asia Congress conference in Macao, without specifying what scale of decline would trigger a purchase.

China Mobile fell 4.3 percent as of 2:46 pm in Hong Kong trading. The shares have lost 52 percent this year, in line with the benchmark Hang Seng Index's 54 percent decline. The benchmark dropped 5.1 percent yesterday.

The Beijing-based company's third-quarter profit rose 26 percent to 27.8 billion yuan, missing analysts' estimates, after it added lower-spending users in rural areas, eroding profitability.

China Mobile will boost investment in rural areas, though the company's capital spending needs have peaked, Wang said.

Separately, China Mobile and Nokia Oyj will announce today on dual-mode handsets for the China market, Wang said.

Agencies