Record trade surplus (China Daily) Updated: 2006-07-17 11:33 Bidding war ends
The one-month bidding war surrounding Hong Kong's
largest phone operator came to an end last Monday after its controlling
shareholder Richard Li sold a 23-per-cent stake to a high-profile local
banker.
The mega-deal, worth HK$9.16 billion (US$1.17 billion), valued
PCCW at HK$6 (77 US cents) per share, an 8 per cent premium to its closing price
of HK$5.55 (71 US cents) on July 7.
Li retains a 3 per cent stake in the
firm, in which China Netcom Group Corp, the mainland's second-largest fixed-line
operator, spent US$1 billion last year for a 20-per-cent stake.
Francis
Leung, who stepped down this year as chairman of Citigroup's Asia investment
banking arm, beat two overseas rivals - Australia's Macquarie Bank and the Asian
arm of US buyout firm Texas Pacific Group.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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