a. Jack So

b. Lee Shau-kee

c. Li Ka-shing

d. Stanley Ho

2 Which publication does Mr Li partly own?

a. South China Morning Post

b. International Herald Tribune

c. Ming Pao Weekly

d. Hong Kong Economic Journal

3 Why were some PCCW investors upset about plans to privatise the company?

a. Some investors bought PCCW shares at a high price and would be forced to sell them at a lower price.

b. Some investors would lose the power to make executive decisions.

c. They were upset that Mr Li had not obtained permission for the deal to take place.

d. They would lose direct ownership over the company.

4 When a company privatises, it needs to buy back its shares from private shareholders. How much was PCCW offering for its own shares?

a. HK$3.98

b. HK$1.31

c. HK$2.50

d. HK$4.50

Word power

Match the words with their meanings below:

1 speculation

2 scenario

3 roller-coaster

4 whopping (adj)

5 frenzy

6 takeover

a. state of panic

b. extreme; overwhelming

c. characterised by abrupt and extreme changes

d. guessing

e. situation

f. in the financial sense, when one party buys out another

Think about

1 What are the advantages and disadvantages of privatising PCCW?

2 How are all the companies that Richard Li Tzar-kai has worked for similar?

3 Use the internet to look up news stories about PCCW from early last year. Why do you think the share price dropped to a low of HK$3.98 on April 1?

Answers on page 11 next Tuesday