China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest mobile carrier by subscribers, plans to invest $882 million in Thai telecommunications carrier True Corp., marking the Chinese company's first significant overseas investment as it seeks growth beyond its saturated home market.

中国移动有限公司(China Mobile Ltd.，简称：中国移动)计划向泰国电信运营商True Corp.投资8.82亿美元，这是该中国公司进行的首笔重大海外投资，目前该公司正寻求在已饱和的本土市场以外实现增长。按用户数量计算，中国移动是全球最大的移动运营商。

China Mobile is buying an 18% stake in one of Thailand's top three telecom operators through a private placement, according to a joint statement from China Mobile and True on Monday.

据中国移动和True周一发表的联合声明称，中国移动将通过私人配售的形式收购True 18%的股权。True是泰国三大电信运营商之一。

True provides broadband-Internet, mobile-phone and pay-television services and has 29 million subscribers in Thailand. It is owned by Thailand's richest man, Dhanin Chearavanont, whose business interests include operations in the agriculture, finance and retail industries. The investment by the Chinese company comes amid political uncertainty in Thailand that has alarmed foreign investors concerned about the country's growth prospects. Late last month, Thailand's armed forces overthrew the elected government after months of sometimes-violent street protests.

True提供的服务包括宽带网络、移动电话以及付费电视，在泰国拥有2,900万用户。该公司由泰国首富谢国民(Dhanin Chearavanont)持有。谢国民持有的业务横跨农业、金融以及零售行业。中国移动投资True恰逢泰国政治形势不确定之际，泰国的政局不稳引发了对该国增长前景感到担忧的外国投资者的警惕。经过数月有时变得暴力的街头抗议后，泰国武装部队于上个月底推翻了民选政府。

For the state-run China Mobile, the investment comes as the company faces a slowdown in earnings because of increasing competition in its home market -- especially after China's telecom regulator began liberalizing the country's telecom pricing last month. China Mobile, which has more than 780 million subscribers, has long been the largest carrier but has come under pressure from smaller rivals such as China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Telecom Corp.

对国有公司中国移动来说，这笔投资恰逢该公司因本土市场竞争日益激烈而面临利润增长放缓之际，特别是中国电信监管机构上个月开始放开国内的电信定价之后。中国移动拥有超过7.8亿用户，长期以来一直是最大的运营商，但面临来自中国联合网络通信（香港）股份有限公司(China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.，简称：中国联通)和中国电信股份有限公司(China Telecom Corp.，简称：中国电信)等较小竞争对手的压力。

'Through the proposed strategic investment in True Corp., China Mobile is expected to get access to new customers, international business opportunities and new earnings growth drivers, which is of great significance to the telecom business of the company,' China Mobile Chief Executive Li Yue said in the written statement.

中国移动首席执行长李跃在一份书面声明中说，通过对True Corp.拟议的战略投资，预计中国移动将获得新的客户、国际商业机会以及新的利润增长推动力，这对中国移动的电信业务非常重要。

Last month Mr. Li said that WeChat, Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s instant-communication application, has had a big impact on China Mobile's traditional text-messaging business. China Mobile's messaging traffic fell 15% last year and declined a further 22% for the first four months of this year.

李跃上个月表示，腾讯控股有限公司(Tencent Holdings Ltd.，简称：腾讯控股)的即时通讯应用微信(WeChat)对中国移动的传统短信业务造成了巨大冲击。去年中国移动的短信流量下降15%，今年前四个月再降22%。

Analysts are skeptical that China Mobile would derive significant benefits from investing in a Thai carrier. In 2010, Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. of Hong Kong left the Thailand market by selling its telecom assets to True for $208.8 million.

分析人士怀疑中国移动是否能从投资一家泰国运营商获得很大好处。2010年，香港的和记电讯国际有限公司(Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd.，简称：和记电讯国际)退出了泰国市场，将旗下的电信资产以2.088亿美元的价格出售给了True。

A China Mobile representative couldn't immediately be reached to elaborate on the rationale for the investment beyond the companies' statement.

没有立即联系到中国移动的代表对公司声明背后的投资理念做出进一步的详细解释。

'This deal is negative to the company's share price as investors see no value from this deal,' said Marvin Lo, an analyst at Mizuho Securities.

瑞穗证券(Mizuho Securities)的分析师Marvin Lo说，该交易对中国移动的股价不利，因投资者认为这项交易没有价值。

Supachi Chearavanont, chief executive of True, said the partnership with China Mobile reflects the 'international business community's confidence in Thailand's long-term economy.'

True的首席执行长Supachi Chearavanont说，与中国移动结盟反映出国际商界对泰国长期经济发展前景的信心。

Thailand's economic growth has taken a hit because of the political uncertainty. The economy contracted 0.6% from a year earlier in the first quarter, according to official data, although Thailand's ruling military junta says it is aiming for at least 2% growth for all of 2014 through a series of policies to kick-start stalled government projects.

由于政治不稳定，泰国经济受到冲击。据官方数据显示，泰国第一季度经济较上年同期萎缩0.6%，但泰国目前执政的军人政权表示，将通过重启停滞的政府项目，力争2014年全年至少实现2%的经济增长。

As part of the agreement, China Mobile will buy 4.4 billion True shares at 6.45 baht (20 U.S. cents) apiece, representing a 13% discount to True's Monday closing price of 7.45 baht. China Mobile will also subscribe to a planned rights offering by True that is expected to raise about 36.4 billion baht, or roughly $1.1 billion.

作为协议的一部分，中国移动将以每股6.45泰铢（合20美分）的价格购买44亿股True股份，较True周一收盘价7.45泰铢折让13%。中国移动还将认购True计划发行的配股，True配股的融资规模约364亿泰铢，约合11亿美元。

Shares in True have traded mostly flat since January, largely because of investor caution related to the political uncertainty. The shares are down 0.7% year-to-date.

True股价自1月份以来基本持平，主要由于政治不确定性担忧导致投资者人气谨慎。年内迄今为止，该股下跌0.7%。

True posted a net profit of 3.83 billion for the first quarter, compared with a net loss of 1.1 billion baht a year earlier.

True第一季度实现 利润38.3亿泰铢，上年同期为 亏损11亿泰铢。

'The investment in True Corp. by China Mobile marks a significant step for the company in strengthening its financial fundamentals,' said Noppadol Dej-Udom, True's group chief financial officer.

True的首席财务长Noppadol Dej-Udom称，中国移动对True Corp.的投资令后者加强其财务基本面的努力向前迈出了一大步。

The company intends to use the funds raised from the rights issue and the investment by China Mobile to reduce overall debt, the executive said. As of March 31, the company's total liabilities stood at 108.1 billion baht.

这位首席财务长表示，该公司将利用配股融资所得及中国移动的投资来削减总体债务。截至3月31日，该公司总负债为1081亿泰铢。

This is the latest fundraising by Mr. Dhanin's company as it seeks to reduce debt.

这是谢国民旗下这间公司寻求减债以来，进行的最新融资活动。

In December, the billionaire raised about $1.8 billion by listing True Telecommunications Growth Infrastructure Fund, which was carved out of True. That listed fund holds assets such as telecom towers, fiber-optic cable grids and other infrastructure assets for mobile-telecom services.

去年12月，谢国民通过将True Telecommunications Growth Infrastructure Fund从True分拆出来单独上市筹集了约18亿美元的资金。这家被分拆上市的基金持有如电信发射塔，光纤电缆网络和移动电信服务的其他基础设施资产。