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SCMP Reporter

Hong Kong's No2 free-to-air broadcaster Asia Television (ATV) will revive its long-delayed main-board listing plan  in the fourth quarter of this year, sources close to the station say.
The company planned to float at least 25 per cent of its issued share capital to the public, raising  up to $1.2 billion for expansion into  mainland markets and allowing existing shareholders to offload their shares, sources said.
The  broadcaster hopes to achieve a market capitalisation of about   25 per cent  to 30 per cent  that of rival Television Broadcasts (TVB), which stood at $15.59 billion based on Friday's closing price of $35.60.
ATV's shareholders include chief executive Chan Wing-kee,  Phoenix TV chairman Liu Changle, Wong Po-yan and Guangdong government-backed Southern Broadcasting Media Group. 
'We're comfortable that ATV can easily achieve a valuation equal to 25 per cent of TVB's capitalisation and perhaps as much as  33 per cent,'  said one source familiar with the listing plan.
ATV plans to use  the listing proceeds to improve programming and expand its reach in Cantonese-speaking markets in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces.
ATV chief financial officer Qin Li   said: 'There are a lot of things happening. If everything goes right,  [a listing] is one option being considered.'
Ms Li joined ATV  last month. She previously worked as chief financial officer at TVB's pay-TV arm, Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, and served as director of business ventures for Intelsat, Galaxy's  former majority shareholder.
In preparation for the listing, ATV is restructuring its operations and is relaunching its flagship Chinese-language channel next month.
'We will boost our content offerings,' an ATV source said. 'We will hire renowned directors and actors who have high overseas popularity.'
ATV's  listing could pose a threat to  TVB, which commands 70 per cent of local viewership. 'TVB does not have a growth story,' the source close to ATV said. 
'It focuses very much on the matured and saturated Hong Kong market. That's why it trades at a much lower valuation than Phoenix TV.' 
 TVB and ATV have  landing rights - or broadcasting rights - for their Cantonese-speaking channels in the Pearl River Delta area. 
ATV collects  advertising revenue in China through Yaguang Media, a joint venture between ATV and Southern Television Guangdong. 
 It is in talks with mainland television  operators and advertising agents to extend its  revenue-sharing agreement to other parts of Guangdong.
'ATV needs  more uniqueness to differentiate itself  from other media firms,' said UOB Kay Hian analyst Tommy Ho. 'It is not strong enough to compete with TVB,  Phoenix TV and Beijing Media.'
 ATV has been trying to go public for at least four years. Its plans have  failed to  materialise in part because it failed to comply with  now-defunct stock exchange profitability requirements. The former rules required firms to have at least three consecutive years of profit totalling at least  $50 million in aggregate.
An amendment last year allowed companies to  list if their listing  results in an initial market capitalisation of more than  $2 billion, $500 million in revenue for the most recent year plus $100 million cash flow from operations over a three-year period. 
While companies with more than $4 billion  in market capitalisation still need to  have $500 million in revenue for the most recent year,   they do not need to meet the cash flow requirement. 



ATV to revive sale