Next Media Ltd (壹傳媒), controlled by billionaire Jimmy Lai (黎智英), said a plan to sell its print business in Taiwan has fallen through.
Based on the buyout contract for the NT$16 billion (US$536 million) deal, either the buyer or seller can cancel the deal if the transaction cannot be completed by today. The deal, which is currently being reviewed by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), cannot proceed until the regulatory review has been completed.
An option to extend the sale agreement for assets that include the Taipei-based Apple Daily newspaper would not be taken up, Next Media’s spokesman Mark Simon said yesterday in a telephone interview, without elaborating.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The plan to sell its lossmaking television assets in Taiwan, which include Next TV, for NT$1.5 billion is still ongoing, he said.
“Next Media is going back to the print business in Taiwan,” Simon said.
Based on the deal, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) chairman William Wong (王文淵) would acquire 34 percent of Next Media’s print assets, followed by Want Want China Times Group (旺旺中時集團) president Tsai Shao-chung (蔡紹中) with 32 percent, Chinatrust Charity Foundation (中信慈善基金會) chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) with 20 percent and Lung Yen Life Service Corp (龍巖集團) chairman David Lee (李世聰) with 14 percent.
Local media reported yesterday that the deal may fall through because Want Want China Holdings Ltd (中國旺旺控股) chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), father of Tsai Shao-chung, sought to pare the stake purchase to avoid antitrust queries into the family’s media ownership.
An official from FPG, who declined to be named, said yesterday it is impossible for the company to take up more shares released by Tsai because the company is not a major player in the deal.
FPG would issue an official statement on the deal within two days, and no further information could be confirmed, the official said.
The official said Next Media has the right to withdraw from the deal based on the contract, and he thought it would be difficult for the Fair Trade Commission to approve the buyout given the public’s opposition to the plan.
However, the commission yesterday said it had contacted all the relevant lawyers in the Next Media deal and no one wanted to withdraw from the review process.
“All comments and reports about the deal are speculation, in our view,” FTC spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said by telephone. He said the commission would continue the review process unless any applicant filed for withdrawal.
The commission began the review process on March 8 and it is set to be completed by April 6. The commission can extend the review process to May 6 if it deems it necessary, Sun said.
Protesters against the deal in January called on Taiwan’s regulators to block the sale of Next Media’s Taiwan in assets to local tycoons to prevent the concentration of media interests.
Want Want China Times Group controls the Chinese-language Commercial Times newspaper, the CtiTV news channel and at least five other media outlets in Taiwan.
A potential integration of the Apple Daily and China Times would have a market share exceeding 45 percent of Taiwan’s newspaper market, according to National Chung Cheng University associate professor Kuang Chung-hsiang (管中祥).
Tsai Shao-chung’s US$2.4 billion purchase of cable operator China Network Systems Co (中嘉網路) is still subject to approval from the National Communications Commission, which said on Feb. 21 the purchaser had not fulfilled its conditions.
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
RSS