In preparation for the November municipal elections, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it hoped to fulfill its promise of selecting a bidder for its party-run businesses by the end of the month.
Lin Yong-ruei (林永瑞), head of the KMT’s administration and management committee, said yesterday was the last day for interested parties to pick up bidding documents after the party opened Central Investment Co for public bidding on May 21. The party will announce the winning bid on June 30, he said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, promised in December last year that the party would propose a final “solution” to the party assets issue, but he emphasized that did not mean the KMT would no longer have any assets.
KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) has said the party would complete the bidding process and sell Central Investment Co by June 30 to resolve issues involving contentious assets and streamline itself into an “election machine.”
While Ma has promised to donate the proceeds of KMT asset sales to charity, King said donations would depend on both the deals and the party’s financial situation.
The party failed in its two previous attempts — in 2006 and in February last year — to sell the company.
The company has a net worth of about NT$20 billion (US$619 million) and is the last of the party’s most controversial assets, following the sale of its Policy Research and Development Department, three media outlets and its former headquarters.
Central Investment Co chairperson Huang Yi-teng (黃怡騰) said that as of noon yesterday, eight potential bidders had picked up the documents and deposited NT$50,000, while four had deposited NT$1 million (US$31,000) and had begun the due diligence process, through which a potential buyer evaluates a target company and its assets.
As a trustee of the KMT, Central Investment Co would carefully select a buyer and categorically reject Chinese investors to avoid unnecessary political associations, Huang said. It would also be watchful for any potential buyer with a bad operational record.
As KMT-run businesses have a unique historical background and unique characteristics, it was the KMT’s mission to properly tackle its party assets, Huang said, adding that Central Investment Co would play a faithful role as a trustee of the party.
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