State Council publishing arm to buy 17.4pc Paramount stake

Paramount Publishing Group, part of Seapower International Holdings, is linking up with the mainland's State Council, whose Xin Hua International Publishing arm is to buy a 17.4 per cent stake in the company for $79.67 million. Seapower said last night it would sell 46.86 million Paramount shares, or 20 per cent of the issued capital, to Xin Hua, wholly owned by the State Council's Development and Research Institute, at $1.70 a share. The shares closed yesterday at $1.96.