BIZCHINA / Weekly Roundup

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.


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