Beijing group says it will continue with its takeover bid for TVB
TLG Movie & Entertainment Group said it will continue with its takeover bid for TVB, Hong Kong’s main free-to-air terrestrial broadcaster, even as the broadcaster said it would raise its share buyback offer price to HK$35.075 on Monday evening from its previous HK$30.5.
TLG Movie & Entertainment Group, the unit of Beijing-based Top Legend Group, is founded and run by a Hong Kong native, Alex Chow.
“The lifting buyback price cannot disturb our TVB buying progress,” Chow told the South China Morning Post in a telephone interview in Hong Kong. “I do not feel any pressure from the issue of TVB raising its buyback price. Our offer price does not mainly follow the buyback price of TVB, but [instead] the company’s own value.”
“Definitely, we have investors to support the TVB deal, and we will announce our offer price and investors next week,” said Chow.
“Culture is another focus and we hope to operate film centres and film production sites with TVB,” Chow added.
TVB’s shares closed 9.2 per cent higher at HK$33.15 on Tuesday. At one point the shares surged close to 13 per cent to an intraday high of HK$34.25, the highest since August 20, 2015. However, the one-and-half-year high of HK$34.25 is still lower than TVB’s newly-issued buyback offer price of HK$35.075.
The new buyback price added 15 per cent but the number of shares to be bought will be reduced to 120 million from 138 million, keeping the total consideration of the offer at HK$4.21 billion, according to a filing on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.
“The company is concerned over the possibility of the public float requirement under the Listing Rules being breached as a result of the previous offer. Such a concern may materialise in the remote circumstances where all major shareholders elect to retain their shares and not accept the offer, while all other shareholders elect to tender their shares in acceptance of the offer,” said TVB in the filing.
