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Denise Tsang

Sing Tao Holdings controlling shareholder Sally Aw Sian is in advanced talks with one interested party to off-load her 50.04 per cent interest in the publisher.

 Separately, Sing Tao yesterday said it was likely to sign an agreement 'shortly' to sell part of its 43.33 per cent stake in publisher Culturecom Holdings.

 Ms Aw, named this week in a fraud case concerning inflated circulation fig ures at Sing Tao's English-language Hong Kong Standard newspaper, was in talks with a number of independent third parties in relation to the share sale.

 Talks with one party were at 'a considerably more advanced stage than the others', Sing Tao said.

 However, no agreement had been signed yet.

 The identity of the potential buyer has been rumoured to be British-based media group Pearson. Ms Aw could not be reached for comment yesterday.

 Sing Tao shares, which had jumped 23 per cent to $1.22 on Thursday, slipped 8 per cent yesterday to close at HK$1.11.

 Brokers said stock punters were speculating a deal was being finalised and a general offer might be triggered, bringing turnover in the stock to its heaviest in a year.

 'The stock has become very rumour-driven since Sally Aw put her stake on sale early this year,' a broker said.

 Almost 13 million shares changed hands yesterday.

 Sing Tao did not indicate when Ms Aw might conclude a deal.

 In June, her attempt to sell the stake fell through after potential buyer Mingly Corp withdrew from the purchase, citing unsatisfactory findings from a review of Sing Tao's operations and profit and loss account.

 In the year to March 31, Sing Tao wrote off its investment in Culturecom, which brought a $154.6 million provision and a $115.99 million net loss against a $26.93 million net profit last year.

 Culturecom, which owns Chinese-language daily Tin Tin Daily News , is likely finally to see a change in shareholding.

 Sing Tao at one stage was on the verge of selling its stake to Culturecom chairman Tang Lap-yan. Former Tin Tin directors also made unsuccessful bids to buy out Tin Tin a few months ago.

 Sing Tao said sale discussions had reached 'a very advanced stage' and it was possible an agreement would be signed 'shortly'.

 However, Sing Tao said the sale would involve less than 35 per cent of Culturecom, which meant it would not result in a general offer for the remaining Culturecom shares.

 Culturecom closed unchanged at 10.2 cents yesterday while turnover was the most hectic in the last 12 months, at 14.4 million shares.



Aw in 'advanced' discussions on disposal of stake in media firm