html On the evening of November 2, China Unicom issued an announcement to explain the relevant matters related to the concentration of operators of the subsidiary China Unicom Innovation and Venture Capital Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Tencent Industrial Venture Capital Co., Ltd. newly established joint ventures received unconditional approval from the State Administration for Market Regulation.
The announcement stated that based on the company's strategic need to fully advance into the digital economy , the company's subsidiary China Unicom Venture Capital plans to set up a new joint venture with Tencent Venture Capital, mainly engaged in content distribution network (CDN) and edge computing businesses, based on independent research and development, forming a complete CDN/MEC platform capabilities, operation capabilities and product innovation capabilities. The matters approved for the aforementioned operator concentration declaration were announced on the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation on October 27, 2022. The establishment of this joint venture is in progress, and the establishment registration has not been completed, and it has no significant impact on the company's current production and operation. In the long run, it will help to amplify the advantages of both parties and strengthen the CDN and edge computing industry chains.
At the same time, the announcement also classified this cooperation as "the normal business cooperation between the company and Tencent ". The investment amount involved in does not meet the standards that companies should disclose as stipulated in the " Shanghai Stock Exchange Stock Listing Rules " (hereinafter referred to as the "Listing Rules"). The "List of Cases for Unconditional Approval of Business Concentration from October 17 to October 23, 2022" released by
on October 27 showed that the case of a new joint venture between China Unicom Innovation and Venture Capital Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Tencent Industrial Venture Capital Co., Ltd. was unconditionally approved and the review time was October 18.
According to public information, China Unicom Innovation and Venture Capital Co., Ltd. was established in April 2014 with a registered capital of RMB 10 billion. It is wholly owned by China Unicom and held . Shenzhen Tencent Industrial Venture Capital Co., Ltd. was established in September 2019 with a registered capital of RMB 600 million. It is wholly owned by Shenzhen Tencent Industrial Investment Fund Co., Ltd. . Its main businesses include venture capital, enterprise management consulting, investment consulting, etc.
This time, China Unicom and Tencent will establish a new joint venture. After the transaction is completed, China Unicom Venture Capital and Tencent Industrial Investment will jointly control the joint venture. China Unicom Venture Capital, Tencent Industrial Investment, and relevant employee stock ownership platforms will hold 48%, 42%, and 10% of the joint venture equity respectively.
The mixed-ownership reform cooperation between China Unicom and Tencent can be traced back to October 2017. At that time, Unicom issued an official notice entitled "China Unicom's mixed-ownership reform and Tencent take big steps to cooperate, and comprehensively carry out in-depth cooperation in the fields of cloud computing , network services, etc.".
The announcement stated that China Unicom and Tencent jointly announced that relying on their rich resources and capabilities in the fields of communications, cloud computing, and network security, they will join forces to open up resources in the fields of cloud computing and network services, promote deep integration and innovation, and create a new "cloud, management, and terminal" Internet industry ecological platform. This is the first major business cooperation with Internet companies in the business field after China Unicom's mixed-ownership reform plan was approved by the regulatory authorities, and it is also the first step in promoting in-depth strategic cooperation with Tencent after the mixed-ownership reform.
In recent years, the two sides have been in constant contact and cooperation. Since February 2018, Lu Shan, senior executive vice president of Tencent Group, has also served as director of in China United Network Communications Co., Ltd.
In addition, , established in 2021, Shenzhen Qianhai New Internet Exchange Center Co., Ltd. , Unicom Innovation and Venture Capital Co., Ltd. holds 18% of the shares, Shenzhen Tencent Industrial Venture Capital Co., Ltd. holds 5% of the shares, and China Mobile Communications Group Guangdong Co., Ltd. also holds 18% of the shares.
The news today also caused a lot of heated discussion and speculation. The announcement also clearly responded to the speculation, indicating that it was just a normal business cooperation. Communications industry expert Xiang Ligang also explained this. He believes that the joint venture cooperation between China Unicom and Tencent's venture capital company has not changed the equity structure of its parent company, and is more inclined to interpret it as an ordinary investment cooperation behavior . Both parties will give full play to their respective advantages and continuously expand the scope of cooperation to achieve win-win results. (Beijing Daily)
