BEIJING: China Unicom Ltd closed down 1.38 percent at 6.49 yuan (95 cents) per share on Tuesday, on clarification over its involvement in Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL) bid.
In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange late Monday, China Unicom, the country's second biggest telecom operator, denied reports of its London-based European subsidiary's participation in proposed privatization of NITEL.
As of the date of the announcement, China Unicom (Hong Kong)'s wholly-owned China Unicom (Europe) Operations Limited (Unicom Europe) "had not commenced any negotiations with relevant parties with respect to any substantive and legally binding agreements."
However, the statement said Unicom Europe had indicated that "it would be interested in exploring the possibility of equity investment in NITEL pending the fulfillment of certain requirements."
Unicom Europe had been in contact with certain potential bidders in the proposed privatization and was interested in providing technical and managerial support services in relation to the proposed privatization, according to the statement.
The company would follow the development of the proposed privatization, and would make announcements as and when appropriate, China Unicom said in the statement.
