Taiwanese snack food tycoon Tsai Eng-meng has taken his quest for control of Asia Television to the courts after accusing Payson Cha Mou-sing and other shareholders of favouring an investment deal that would hurt Tsai's stake in the struggling broadcaster.
The latest twist in the saga over ATV's fate stems from a statement of claim filed with the Court of First Instance yesterday. In the document, San Want Media Holdings, wholly owned by Tsai, alleges ATV directors Cha and his brother, Johnson Cha Mou-daid, breached their fiduciary duty by backing the issue of new convertible bonds that can be exchanged for ATV shares priced below the minimum allowed under the shareholders' agreement.
Cha said he was puzzled by the news. 'Mr Tsai does not seem like such a person. Perhaps I have said something wrong and he is angry with me so he took some action,' said Cha, who has previously held press conferences on the shares dispute.
Speaking in Beijing, where he is attending the annual plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Cha said Tsai had not told him of the lawsuit and he needed to get more details.
In a statement, an ATV spokesman noted the legal proceedings but said 'all departments are operating as usual to serve audiences with high quality programmes'.
ATV is struggling to rebuild its finances amid management changes and increasingly public squabbling among shareholders. Before March last year the shareholders were Panfair Holdings (10.75 per cent), Alnery No 112 (47.58 per cent), Dragon Viceroy (26.85 per cent) and China Light Group (14.81 per cent). Panfair is equally owned by the Cha brothers.
