The legal representative of the Taipei-based Apple Online, the sister Web site of Hong Kong’s now defunct Apple Daily newspaper, on Thursday dismissed reports that the handover of the news site announced on Wednesday last week was unauthorized.
“There is no such thing as the unauthorized disposal” of Apple Online, said Ip Yut-kin (葉一堅), who is the legal representative of the Taiwan branch of Apple Daily Publication Development, a subsidiary of Hong Kong media group Next Digital, which owns Apple Online.
Ip made the statement in a letter to Apple Online employees after Next Digital, which is in liquidation proceedings, on Tuesday denied media reports that it had sold Apple Online.
In an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company’s liquidators rejected “certain media reports” stating that it had disposed of its business in Taiwan for more than NT$300 million (US$10.1 million).
The company’s liquidators said they would “take necessary action” if any unauthorized disposal of its business has occurred.
In the letter, Ip also addressed a planned mass layoff at Apple Online.
Ip said that the company was laying off employees in August because its remaining funds are expected to be used up before September, following the disruption of capital inflows after the assets of Apple Daily were frozen as part of a national security investigation in Hong Kong last year.
Most of the company’s employees would be transferred to the new owners, Ip said.
He also said the company would hold a labor-management consultation meeting to protect the rights and interests of all employees.
On Tuesday, the Taipei Department of Labor said that Apple Online had submitted plans to lay off 280 employees in August.
Employers are required to disclose large numbers of layoffs 60 days in advance.
In May last year, Next Digital stopped publishing the print edition of the Apple Daily in Taiwan, citing declining readership and advertising revenue, but it has continued to operate the online news site.
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