Be it a takeover or a handover, the arrival of a new owner is typically unsettling. Hong Kong knows all about new bosses but its ownership transfer came with some reassuring ground rules - no change for 50 years, and a Basic Law.
Shareholders and 'stakeholders' in PCCW might have expected similar reassurance after it announced negotiations to sell Hong Kong's flagship telecommunications firm to China Netcom Group without outlining parameters for the talks.
Six weeks on, the silence is deafening. It remains unclear whether PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai has a bottom line position before flogging the operator.
Selling a minority stake would at least allow management to retain control, although Netcom would dwarf PCCW when measured by assets. Shareholders must hope its crown jewels are traded for hard currency and not exchanged in an equity bargain with the cash-strapped mainland operator.
Mr Li appears ready to exit his investment. However, the question of whether the sale is in the best interests of Hong Kong and minority shareholders has barely surfaced.
Travel back four years when PCCW outflanked Singapore Telecom to secure control of the then C&W HKT, and Mr Li was able to play the nationality card, given the Lion City's traditional feisty rivalry with Hong Kong. The credentials of the new owner mattered then, surely they should do so now.
PCCW is no ordinary company as it runs voice and data lines into almost every business and home in Hong Kong.
