Chinese smartphone company Honor gets new investors as it gears up for IPO

BEIJING — Chinese smartphone company Honor on Thursday announced backing from new investors as the Huawei spinoff prepares for an initial public offering.

The new backers are: China Telecom — one of the major telecommunications operators in the country — CICC Capital, Chinese venture capital firm Cornerstone and SDG, a fund linked to a Shenzhen economic zone. Honor said its existing partners also made a new investment round through an entity called Jinshi Xingyao.

Honor said earlier this year it planned to start changing its shareholder structure in the fourth quarter, after which it would start the IPO process “at a suitable time.”

The company has not said where it would list. Honor announced its IPO plans in November 2023.

Honor spun off from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in November 2020 after the parent company was hit by U.S. sanctions. Huawei said it does not hold any shares in Honor or have involvement in business decisions.

Last week, Honor revealed the next version of its operating system can use AI to mimic actions on a touchscreen, such as opening an app to order coffee delivery. The company on Wednesday released its new Magic7 series of phones that can use the AI features in China.

Just under one-third of Honor’s sales came from outside China in the first half of this year, according to Counterpoint.

— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.