The government plans to sell a 14 percent stake in Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), worth NT$75.6 billion (US$2.3 billion), this year to put more of its shares in private hands, a government official said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which owns 65 percent of the phone company, will sell shares overseas and locally, according to Tony Deng, director of the ministry's Directorate General of Telecommunications.
"I'd welcome a further sale," said Chris Ruffle, who counts shares in the company among the US$60 million Greater China Fund he manages at Martin Currie Investment Management.
The shares will probably be sold "at a small discount," he said.
The government sold more than a third of the company during President Chen Shui-bian's (
The sale should be attractive to investors, because it would increase the company's float, or the total number of shares available for public trading, Ruffle said.
The government plans to transfer most of the ownership of the company to private hands, according to Shen Fufu (
The shares fell NT$0.50, or 0.9 percent, to NT$55.50.
"The ministry hasn't given us any green light," Shen said.
The company has been investigating possibilities for more stake sales, she said.
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