Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says he is interested in buying the broadband television business of Hong Kong phone company PCCW Ltd if a rival US$7 billion bid for the company's assets is unsuccessful, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of global media conglomerate News Corp, told the Australian newspaper that his company held talks with Australia's biggest investment bank, Macquarie Bank Ltd, about PCCW's telecommunications and media assets.
Macquarie is currently competing with US investor TPG-Newbridge for the assets.
However, Murdoch said something had gone wrong in Macquarie's talks with Chinese officials, and indicated that he was skeptical about the bank's chances of winning approval from Beijing.
`Hostile invaders'
"They're treating Macquarie as hostile invaders," Murdoch told the newspaper.
"It would be an amazing achievement if Macquarie managed to turn the situation around," he said.
Murdoch said News Corp was interested in the "video side of the business" and not the "traditional telecoms side" of PCCW.
"It could be a very interesting experience operating that -- the video side of the business," Murdoch said.
Macquarie Bank's and TPG-Newbridge's interest in buying PCCW Ltd's telecommunications and media assets, made public last week, has been complicated by China Netcom Group's strong opposition.
Foreign hands?
The government-owned company, which has a 20 percent interest in PCCW, has said it was concerned about PCCW's assets falling into foreign hands.
TPG-Newbridge has reportedly tried to soften China Netcom's reservations with plans to make the Chinese firm a partner in any purchase of PCCW's assets, offering it a stake of up to 50 percent.
Murdoch also said Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing (
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