Simmons & Simmons is advising China Telecom Corporation Limited on its proposed US$8.2bn (RMB67.8bn) acquisition of 10 provincial telecommunications networks from its parent, China Telecommunications Group.

Daniel Liew, partner and head of the firm's major project practice in East Asia, is leading the Simmons team, which includes Peter Chen, Yi Chen, Seung Chong (consultant), Norman Hui, Karen Ip, Jason Lee, Lilian Lee, Harold Ma, Yuan Tang and Wendy Yau.

The planned acquisitions will double the number of telecommunications networks under China Telecom's control to 20. The networks to be acquired are in Hubei, Hunan, Hainan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang.

The acquisitions will be the second such purchase since the listing of China Telecom in 2002.

China International Capital Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Asia Limited and UBS AG are the financial advisers to China Telecom. JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited is acting as independent financial adviser to the independent board committee of China Telecom.

Daniel Liew said: "The transaction strengthens the geographic coverage and overall market position of China Telecom Corporation Limited as well as placing [it] in a stronger position to benefit further from the continued growth in the telecommunications industry in the PRC."

China Telecom is the Hong Kong and New York listed subsidiary of China Telecommunications Group. Upon completion of the acquisition, it will become the largest telecommunications network operator in China with 160 million access lines in service and a service area with a total population of 838.8 million. This represents 64.9% of the population of China.

China is the largest telecommunications market in the world in terms of the overall number of subscribers.