Government takes over Asia Pacific board

Government representatives took over the board of debt-ridden fixed-line operator Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom Co (亞太固網寬頻) yesterday, ousting members of the Wang family.

During a shareholder meeting yesterday, government-affiliated shareholders, including the Taiwan Railway Administration (台鐵) and Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀), gained 24 director seats in the board as well as four supervisory seats.

Central Investment Holding Co (中央投資) and Kwanhua Investment Holding Company (光華投資) -- both investment arms of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) -- each had one member elected to the board of directors.

With that, management of the telecom operator has now fallen into government hands, with a two-thirds majority. Wang-linked companies, meanwhile, obtained seven board and one supervisory seats.

The new government-appointed management team, led by chairman Springfield Lai (賴春田) of the Taiwan Railway Administration, came on board Asia Pacific Broadband recently to review the troubled company's finances.

The telecom firm falls under the Rebar Asia Pacific Group (力霸亞太企業集團), whose chairman Wang You-theng (王又曾) and his wife Wang Chin She-ying (王金世英) fled the country amid financial scandals.

The shareholder meeting yesterday also gave the green light for the proposal to go public.