Richard Li Tzar-kai has made a quick profit - about $400 million in just nine months - from having invested in a consortium that took over Japan Telecom.
The chairman of PCCW is a member of the consortium, led by United States venture capital firm Ripplewood Holdings, that yesterday sold Japan's No3 fixed-line operator to Softbank Corp for 143.3 billion yen (HK$10 billion).
Mr Li - not PCCW - owned a stake of between 4 and 5 per cent in Japan Telecom, which was bought from Vodafone Group for US$268 million in August last year. It was Japan's largest leveraged buyout.
When Mr Li disclosed the transaction in November, he said he had offered the investment opportunity to PCCW but the firm's board declined because it was not in line with its business plan.
PCCW has been cautious about making new investments since it failed in a HK$30 billion takeover bid for Cable & Wireless in February last year. Ripplewood partnered PCCW in the bid.
