China Unicom Holders Approve Merger With China Netcom

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- China Unicom said Tuesday its minority shareholders approved its merger with fixed-line carrier China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) Ltd. as part of the restructuring of China's telecommunications industry.

After the merger, China Netcom will become a wholly owned unit of China Unicom, which is China's second-largest mobile operator by subscribers after China Mobile.

China Unicom also said its minority shareholders approved the proposed sale of its Code Division Multiple Access operations to China Telecom.

China Telecom, the country's largest fixed-line operator by subscribers, is paying CNY43.8 billion for China Unicom's CDMA business.

China Netcom will hold a separate meeting Sept. 17 to seek approval for the merger. It said last month it plans to delist its shares from the Hong Kong stock exchange on Oct. 15, following the merger.

China Netcom also plans to withdraw its American Depositary Receipts from the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 15.

-By Lorraine Luk, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; lorraine.luk@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 16th September 2008