HK$4.7b deal to sell Jimmy Lai's Taiwan unit postponed

The HK$4.7 billion deal for the sale of publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's Next Media holdings in Taiwan was put on hold yesterday, hours before it was supposed to have been sealed.

A row over payment and shareholding issues saw the signing postponed until later this month, although no new date has been set. It comes after the surprising news that Lai's bitter adversary Tsai Eng-meng is part of the consortium of buyers.

"Lai has asked for the payment to be made in one go, but the Taiwanese parties have insisted that it should be made in instalments instead," a Next Media source involved in the negotiations said.

The source also said the question of who would sign the deal was also an issue.

Last month Taiwanese entrepreneur Jeffrey Koo Jnr, the eldest son of the banking mogul Jeffrey Koo Len-song, the chairman of Chinatrust Financial Holdings, signed a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of Next Media's Taiwan print and TV assets, including the Taiwan editions of Apple Daily and Next Magazine, with the backing of Wang Wen-yuan, president of Formosa Plastics Group, and a Singaporean private equity fund.

But it came as a shock to Lai that Tsai, chairman and chief executive of the Taiwanese snack food to media conglomerate Want Want Holdings, was behind the Singaporean fund.