Spain-based Telefonica announced on September 15 that the company has attained the goal of holding a 9.9% stake in China Netcom, according to a China Knowledge report. The stake will be diluted to about 2.2% in the new company created by the merger of China Unicom and China Netcom. Telefonica plans to add a further investment of approximately 392 million to 434 million Euros (US$557.2 million to US$616.8 million; US$1=0.7 Euro) to bring its stake to 5.5% in the new company, according to the Wall Street Journal.

At the same time, Korea's SK Telecom, currently the second largest shareholder of China Unicom with a stake of 6.61%, is reportedly also seeking opportunities to boost its stake in the new Unicom-Netcom entity, Xinhua News Agency reported. Detailed plan of action has not been disclosed, though.