CHINA Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest mobile network operator by total subscribers, plans to raise up to 56 billion yuan (US$8.8 billion) through a listing in Shanghai, which would be one of the largest equity fundraisings so far this year.

The firm is planning to issue 845.70 million shares and will sell each share for 57.58 yuan, raising as much as 48.7 billion yuan before an over-allotment option is exercised. After that option is fully exercised, it will raise up to 56 billion yuan.

The proceeds that China Mobile is seeking to raise would rival that of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.’s offer in Shanghai last year, making it among the top 10 listings on record in China.

Hong Kong-listed China Mobile’s stock offering comes after it and domestic rivals China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. lost appeals against being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The NYSE action was taken to comply with an investment blacklist introduced under former U.S. President Donald Trump, which bars Americans from investing in Chinese companies and the Trump-era decision has been left unchanged by the Biden administration amid continuing tensions between China and the United States.

In August this year, China Mobile’s smaller rival China Telecom raised more than US$7 billion through a Shanghai listing. China United Network Communications Ltd. was already trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

China Mobile, which first announced its intentions for a Shanghai listing in May, didn’t say that the offer was linked to the U.S. delisting.

Proceeds from the listing in Shanghai will be used to fund 5G network expansion, cloud infrastructure, smart-living projects and tech development that will cost the company 157 billion yuan in total.

Chinese authorities have more broadly wanted to make it easier for domestic investors to invest in more of China’s corporate champions and its fast-growing technology companies. (SD-Agencies)