HK phone operator PCCW rejects bids for core assets
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-27 09:44
After sparking a month-long frenzy of media speculation, Hong Kong's largest
fixed-line phone operator PCCW Ltd. said it has rejected separate bids by two
foreign investors for its telecommunications and media assets.
PCCW has called off talks with Australia's Macquarie Bank and U.S. private
equity company Newbridge Capital, a unit of Texas Pacific Group, due to
objections from its major shareholder China Network Communications Ltd, PCCW
said in a statement late Tuesday.
China Netcom, a state-owned company that holds 20 percent of PCCW, has
"repeatedly indicated ... its opposition to such an asset sale and, despite
persistent endeavors to develop an acceptable structure, all attempts to do so
have failed," the statement said.
China Netcom has suggested it did not want to see telecom infrastructure on
Chinese soil falling into foreign hands.
Shares of PCCW slid 1.2 percent to HK$4.90 Wednesday after suspension from
trading Tuesday.
Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities, said share prices may
further drop to HK$4.50 in the next month.
"Minority shareholders are very disappointed they won't get cash proposed by
the (foreign) offers. The statement last night is like a final nail in the
coffin," he said.
PCCW, controlled by Richard Li, son of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, said
last month that Macquarie and Newbridge were making rival bids reportedly worth
about US$7 billion each to buy its core telecommunications and media assets.
But Li announced two weeks ago that he would sell 23 percent of his 26
percent stake in PCCW to financier Francis Leung for HK$9.16 billion (US$1.2
billion; euro933 million).
PCCW, which offers fixed-line and mobile phone services and broadband TV,
once aspired to become a regional high-tech powerhouse but such hopes fizzled
amid the dot-com bust. It has since enjoyed some success in high-end real
estate.
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