The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will choose the winning bidder for the Central Investment Holding Co by the month's end, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.
Media reports said that the bidding for the company, long one of the party's largest moneymaking businesses, has been going on quietly for the past two months.
The party's price tag for the company is reportedly between NT$15 billion (US$44.39 million)and NT$18 billion.
Although the company's assets are valued at over NT$25 billion, some of the company's operations are considered high-risk, and these have forced the party to be more flexible about the company's sale price, the paper said.
The top bidders are reportedly the China Development Financial Holding Corp, the Yuanta Group,Jih Sun Financial Holdings Co and a foreign asset-management firm.
Chang Che-shen (
KMT accountants were also evasive yesterday, with several saying that they had only learned of the purported sale yesterday morning when they read the newspapers.
But more news may be revealed today, KMT representatives said, and a press conference was set for 10am to address the controversies surrounding the party's assets.
The company's assets had been held in trust with Credit Suisse First Boston until last month. When the KMT terminated its contract with Credit Suisse a few weeks ago, many speculated that the party was seeking to regain control of the assets to facilitate speedy liquidation.
The sale rumors follow a controversy over the sale of KMT assets through another company, the Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co. The KMT has between NT$8 billion and NT$9 billion in Hua Hsia, which it is seeking to sell before the end of the year.
The KMT's plans have landed the party in hot water with the Government Information Office, which has repeatedly warned the party that the media holdings through Hua Hsia must not be sold to foreign investors.
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