HKT's acquisition of CSL makes Richard Li telecoms kingpin again
PCCW chief Richard Li repurchases wireless service provider CSL he sold to Telstra and goes back to being city's top industry player
Richard Li Tzar-kai is back on top of Hong Kong's telecommunications industry after the tycoon's PCCW-controlled HKT agreed yesterday to acquire CSL New World Mobility, a subsidiary of Australian network operator Telstra, for HK$18.8 billion.
It is a strategic move that allows HKT to build up its resources ahead of the expiry of 3G spectrum licences in October 2016. It means HKT will have a 31 per cent share of the city's mobile communications market once the transaction is completed early next year.
The deal, which is being funded by a bridging loan, also shows the kind of big bet for which PCCW chairman Li is known.
That's because HKT, the smallest of the five mobile network operators in Hong Kong, is buying an operator that has been the city's largest wireless services provider since 2006.
In 2000, Li's internet investment start-up, Pacific Century CyberWorks, took control of Cable & Wireless HKT for US$38 billion in what was then Asia's largest corporate takeover.