Sichuan Changhong Electric Appliances, China's third-largest television maker, has received a 30 per cent stake in a Hong Kong-listed company as partial debt payment.
Changhong in April dropped a suit against Apex Digital, a former distributor of the mainland company's products in the United States, on condition that Apex pay it US$170 million.
Apex has since transferred 95.37 million China Data Broadcasting Holdings shares, worth US$8.8 million or 72 HK cents per share, to Changhong, the Shanghai-listed television maker said in a statement yesterday. Apex has also guaranteed to pay Changhong US$9 million from the sale of apartments and US$423,085 in cash.
Apex's most popular brand names, 'Apex' and 'Apex Digital', had been transferred to Changhong, waiting for a valuation by a professional institution, with a maximum transfer value of US$90 million, the statement said.
'Apex will pay the rest of the debt to Changhong by its accounts receivable and selling its inventory,' said Changhong.
China Data shares, which are listed on Hong Kong's GEM board, have been suspended at HK$1.44 since December 28, 2004, when Changhong warned investors it faced considerable difficulty in collecting receivables from Apex.