Blackrock sells $200m China Telecom stake after US ban
Blackrock has offloaded almost all of its stake in China Telecom at a significant discount following a new ban on US investment.
China Telecom is one of a number of tech firms subject to a Trump administration executive order blocking American investors from owning companies deemed to have links with the Chinese military.
The move has sparked a frantic sell-off as US investors look to withdraw their holdings in firms targeted by the ban.
Blackrock sold 818m shares in China Telecom at an average price of HK$1.92 each this week, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. This was 12 per cent below the stock’s closing price.
The asset manager did not give a reason for the $206m (£151m) sale, which reduces its holding from 6.1 per cent to 0.2 per cent.
China Telecom is one of three Chinese stocks set to be delisted by the New York Stock Exchange as a result of the ban.
The bourse last week confirmed it will also remove China Mobile and China Unicom after reversing its decision twice in less than a week.
In total the Trump administration has now issued sanctions on 44 Chinese companies as part of its campaign against Beijing.
Trump, who has just days remaining in office, yesterday took a final swipe at China and its biggest companies, extending the investment ban to nine more firms.
Top executives at state-owned companies, officials of the Chinese Communist Party and military, along with oil giant CNOOC all face new restrictions for allegedly using coercion to fend off states with rival claims to oil in the South China Sea.