Cheng told the media earlier this month that Wong had agreed to buy out the shares owned by him, station chief executive Morris Ho Kwok-fai and Ronald Arculli for HK$160 million.

Cheng was also reported to have said Wong had agreed to inject HK$50 million into the station and continue to employ all the existing staff.

The earlier cited Cheng as saying he would not become a consultant for DBC and that he would not agree to stop speaking on air in exchange for the buyout. Cheng could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Trouble flared when Wong refused to top up his investment in the company for what Cheng called political reasons.

Wong has maintained that his decision was based entirely on business considerations, but Cheng claimed the refusal came after instructions from an official at the central government's Hong Kong liaison office.

Cheng accused Wong of helping the central government silence dissident views, and each sued the other over the dispute.

Complications set in when activists released a tape recording in which a man identified as Wong says "Ah Peng" had told him that the liaison office would not want radio host Lee Wai-ling - an outspoken government critic - to be hired by the station. The liaison office director at the time was Peng Qinghua .

The four court actions included Wong's applications to appoint two accountants to take over the station as receivers and get access to the radio station's account books and documents.

Cheng had filed a winding-up summons asking the court to order one of them to buy out the other's shares.