Billionaire Henry Cheng to take control of pay-TV operator i-Cable amid spotlight on Hong Kong media assets
- Cheng to take control of i-Cable’s biggest shareholder by buying out two other long-time partners
- The billionaire from New World Development group will then make a takeover offer for the rest of Hong Kong’s second-largest pay-TV operator
The tycoon, whose family controls New World Development, disclosed an agreement signed in September to pay HK$208.9 million to buy out long-time partners David Chiu Tat-cheong and Li Sze Lim in Forever Top (Asia), the firm that owns 43.2 per cent of the city’s second-largest pay-TV operator.
He will then proceed to make an offer to buy the 56.8 per cent of i-Cable shares from other holders at HK$0.0264 each and cancel as many as 19.9 million stock options, valuing the bid at up to HK$107.5 million, according to an exchange filing late on Tuesday.
The takeover offer represents a 61 per cent discount to the stock’s last traded price of HK$0.068 on September 30. The stock jumped 40 per cent at one point when it resumed trading on Wednesday following a five-week suspension before closing 18 per cent higher at HK$0.08.
The transactions represent another interesting move in the Hong Kong media industry. Kwok Hiu-ting, the daughter of Kaisa Group chairman Kwok Ying-shing, bought a controlling stake in publisher Sing Tao News Corp in February for about HK$370 million. Alibaba Group Holding has denied recent rumours about a potential bid for its unit that owns this newspaper.