Former Peregrine chairman Philip Tose on board of bidder for Sing Tao stake

Philip Tose, the former chairman of the collapsed investment bank Peregrine, was yesterday revealed to be a director of Investment Company of China (ICC), the Dublin-listed fund that is seeking to buy an 11.13 per cent stake in publisher Sing Tao.

ICC's board also includes a managing director of Soros Fund Management, Sean Warren, and Rodolfo De Benedetti, the chief executive of Italian investment group CIR International, filings made to the Irish Stock Exchange reveal.

Mr Tose's presence on the board stems from Peregrine's original role as sponsor and manager of the fund when it was launched in 1992 through Peregrine Direct Investments.

Until January last year, Winnie Fok, a former senior executive of Peregrine Direct Investments and a sister of Hutchison Whampoa managing director Canning Fok, was also on the ICC board, although she resigned soon after Peregrine collapsed.

'The fund looks for suitably qualified people to advise on its investments, and Mr Tose is such a person,' a spokesman for ICC said yesterday.

ICC said yesterday its only interest in Sing Tao was its value as an investment, despite the fact that most of the fund's interests have been in mainland property and infrastructure projects.