NewBattle for ‘stolen’ Paladin assets heats up after sale announcement
‘My uncle and aunt have stolen this company from my mother,’ Chen Te-ming says on hearing news of the deal with CSI Properties
A bitter family feud for control over Hong Kong-listed Paladin has taken a further twist with a tentative sale of the company’s core asset to CSI Properties.
The HK$1.82 billion conditional offer for a Peak property portfolio including The Oasis, detailed on Thursday night in an exchange filing, now puts the focus on ousted Paladin chief executive Michael Chen Te-kuang and his brother Chen Te-ming to respond.
“My uncle and aunt have stolen this company from my mother … I will be consulting with my lawyers,” Chen Te-ming told the South China Morning Post on hearing news of the sale.
The Chen brothers accuse their uncle Andrew Oung Da-ming, wanted in Taiwan in connection with a bribery probe, and aunt Margaret Uon of abusing a power of attorney document signed by their mother Lilian Oung Hsiao-mei to gain control over key Paladin shares through a complex series of multi-tiered offshore holding companies, kicking Michael Chen out of the company in the process.
A second uncle earlier linked to the family battle, James Oung Da-ming, a former Taiwanese legislator jailed for stock market fraud, died in March, according to his nephews.
Paladin shares rose more than 20 per cent in early trading on Friday on the news before closing down 17.57 per cent
The Oung family is descended from Taiwanese businessman Oung Ming-chang, the founder of Hualon Group, once one of Taiwan’s largest conglomerates.