Hutchison Whampoa has won the first round of arbitration in Italy after a court rejected a bid by its Italian third-generation (3G) partner Cirtel International (CIR) to recover a 380 million euro (about HK$2.61 billion) investment.
But the arbitration is unfinished and could yet result in Hutchison pouring more money into its 3G operation.
A judge in Milan late last week rejected CIR's application for an interim order freezing assets in H3G Italy. A Hutchison spokesman declined to comment.
H3G Italy, now an 88.2 per cent subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, was formed when a Hutchison-led consortium won a 3G licence in 2000. CIR was a founding member of the consortium.
As telecoms sentiment soured, CIR - which originally held 15 per cent of H3G Italy - asked to cash out. It sold a 2.1 per cent stake back to Hutchison last July.
CIR, which controls many Italian media assets, thought the capital it invested was shareholder loans, while Hutchison said it was equity investment which did not require immediate payback.
