Chinese Tower Operator Guodong Is Said to Plan Hong Kong IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Guodong Group, a Chinese wireless infrastructure company, is planning an initial public offering in Hong Kong that could raise about $300 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Shanghai-based company plans to sell shares as soon as this year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Guodong is working with advisers on the planned listing, the people said.

Guodong’s sale plan follows that of China Tower Corp., the state-owned wireless giant that operates 96 percent of the country’s towers, which raised $7.5 billion in a landmark Hong Kong listing last year. China Tower’s shares have since jumped 46 percent while the city’s benchmark Hang Seng index rose 4 percent.

Details of the offering including the fundraising size could change, the people said. A representative for Guodong didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Guodong, founded in 2001 and with an enterprise value of over 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), operates in more than 300 cities in China, according to its website. Becoming a listed company is the first step in its "three-step strategic plan."

Apart from operating tower assets, Guodong also owns data centers and manufactures parts for tower sites owned by China’s top three carriers -- China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. and China Telecom Corp.

--With assistance from Vinicy Chan.

To contact the reporters on this story: Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Annie Lee in Hong Kong at olee42@bloomberg.net;Crystal Tse in Hong Kong at ctse44@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, ;Neha D'silva at ndsilva1@bloomberg.net, Fion Li, Katrina Nicholas

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