Chunghwa Telecom delays sale again

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) has delayed a US sale of a NT$67.9 billion (US$2 billion) stake in Taiwan's biggest phone company by two days after the company's workers' union blocked a board meeting to plan a buyback of company shares urged by potential investors, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing the Taiwan government.

Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which plans to sell as much as 13.8 percent of the company in the US, on July 4 said it planned to sell the shares on July 15.

The sale has been delayed to July 17, the report said.

The government is offering 750 million Chunghwa shares in the form of American depositary receipts, with one ADR equal to 10 common shares.

About 408 million more shares will be available if the first block is fully subscribed, said Wang Ting-chun (王廷俊), a section chief at the ministry.

The government will announce the price of the shares at 11am on July 15 in New York.

The range is NT$46.11 to NT$53 a share.

Chunghwa Telecom yesterday said the workers' union on Thursday blocked access to a board meeting at the company's headquarters held to approve a buyback of up to a 10th of the shares worth NT$49.7 billion.