(Yicai) Oct. 31 -- Honor, the smartphone maker that Huawei Technologies spun off four years ago, has recently brought on new investors, including China Telecom and funds managed by CICC Capital, ahead of its planned initial public offering, Yicai learned from informed sources today.

Other new shareholders include funds managed by CoStone Capital and by the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Development Group, the sources said without providing additional financial details.

Moreover, Jinshi Xingyao, an investment platform for the budget phone brand's channel partners, took part in the share sale.

Founded by Huawei in 2013, Honor was sold off in November 2020 to avoid US sanctions that restricted Huawei’s access to essential components and software. Honor was acquired for CNY100 billion (USD14 billion) by Zhixin New Information Technology, a company controlled by the Shenzhen State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

In August, the maker of the Honor Magic V3 series announced it planned to undertake a joint-stock system reform in the fourth quarter as part of its IPO preparations.

Prior to this investment round, Honor had 17 shareholders, including support from the United Arab Emirates, while the state-owned asset manager of Shenzhen remained its controlling shareholder.

Editor: Emmi Laine