Spanish telecommunication provider Telefonica has raised around $356 million by selling 1.51 percent of its shares to China Unicom, the company said in a statement on Monday, July 11.

The company, which has been disposing of its non-core assets, sold 361.8 million of its shares to China Unicom valued at $1.01 per share.

Like Us on Facebook

"This operation is part of measures to manage the asset portfolio, and the goal of medium-term deleveraging of the company," Telefonica said.

The heavily indebted Spanish firm said it would remain committed to its strategic alliance with China Unicom as the two plan to create a joint venture to sell big data services, Business Standards reported

Meanwhile, Telefonica faces the risk of having its credit rating cut if it can not find a way to trim down its debts by the end of the year, Carlos Winzer, Moody's Corp analyst, said. In June, the company claimed it is on track to attain its 2016 targets amid Britain's decision to leave the European Union, which could affect its business and balance sheet, Reuters reported.

Sources familiar with the matter, on the other hand, told Bloomberg that Telefonica plans to sell some of its stake in UK wireless carrier O2 despite market volatility and a delayed listing of its infrastructure unit Telxius. While the company is considering partial or total sales of these units, it said that it is not rushing to decide.

Telefonica needs to raise $15.5 billion to attain its target for reported net debt to earnings ratio before depreciation, interest, taxes and amortization of 2.35, Bloomberg reported.

TagsTelefonica, telecommunication, China Unicom, O2 carrier, Telxius, brexit