Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英) is negotiating to buy the China Times Group, a newspaper report said yesterday.
There are three parties interested in buying the loss-making group, but Lai’s Next Media Group is seen as the likely winner because it is willing to accept a package sale, while the other two bidders only want to buy the two profit-making TV stations, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News said.
The takeover talks are near completion and Next Media is expected to announce the takeover early next month, the story quoted unnamed industry sources as saying.
Both Next Media and the China Times Group refused to comment on the story.
If the takeover were to materialize, it would make Next Media the largest media group in Taiwan with two TV stations, two magazines and four newspapers.
Lai — vowing to change the reading habits of people by promoting “serious” news reports — launched the Taiwanese versions of his Hong Kong publications Next Magazine and the Apple Daily in May 2003.
Although criticized by many as full of gossip, the Apple Daily quickly became a bestselling newspaper in Taiwan. Its daily circulation has reached 526,000 and it now threatens the market share of other dailies.
Next Magazine, with a scoop in practically every issue, has become the nation’s most popular news magazine.
The Chinese-language China Times was launched in 1950 and later expanded to become the largest media group but is now facing financial difficulties.
The group owns the China Times, the Commercial Times, the China Times Publishing Co, the China Television Co and CTI TV.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
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