China Telecom receives support for its Shanghai IPO from Huawei, Bilibili and other big name state firms

China Telecom, the country’s largest fixed-line operator that is raising up to 54.2 billion yuan (US$8.4 billion) in a stock offering in Shanghai after delisting from the New York Stock Exchange in May, has enlisted support from 20 strategic investors including Huawei Technologies Co and Bilibili.

Huawei, the Shenzhen-based and privately-owned telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics giant, has agreed to buy 220.7 million China Telecom A-shares to be issued, according to a statement filed to the Shanghai bourse by the telecoms operator on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Shanghai-based online entertainment services provider Bilibili, listed in Hong Kong and the US, has pledged to buy 110.3 million shares.

Both investors promised not to sell their shares within three years.

Hong Kong-listed China Telecom has set aside 5.18 billion, or half of a total of 10.4 billion A shares it is selling in Shanghai at 4.53 yuan each, for subscription by strategic investors. These include mostly units of large state-backed companies, such as the nation’s dominant power distributor State Grid Corporation of China, and the largest coal miner and wind power generator China Energy Investment Corporation.

Policy bank China Development Bank’s China-Africa Development Fund is also among the strategic investors list.