'No urgency' to sell stakes in harbour tunnels
Citic Pacific could consider selling its stakes in the Eastern and Western harbour tunnels but there was no pressing need to do so, the company's managing director Henry Fan Hung-ling said yesterday.
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah also said he did not see any urgency to decide on the issue at present.
Mr Fan said: 'If there are suitable buyers with a suitable price, then we will consider [selling the stakes].'
Citic Pacific has a 71 per cent stake in the Eastern Harbour Tunnel and a 35 per cent stake in the Western Harbour Tunnel.
Mr Fan said the state-owned parent company, Citic Group, was preparing a US$1.3 billion facility to help keep the company afloat, meaning there was no urgency to sell its stakes.
Lawmakers had suggested this would be a good opportunity for the government to capitalise on the current crisis by buying the stakes from Citic, giving it greater control over pricing.
A Citic statement clarified that company chairman Larry Yung Chi-kin, in Beijing to arrange the loan from the parent company, had not submitted his resignation, contrary to media reports.
