Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's (
The purchase of Computer Weekly will be large enough to require public disclosure when completed, Tom.com said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The decade-old newspaper has about 700,000 subscribers and had sales of about 125 million yuan (US$15 million) last year.
Tom.com has turned its attention to China in the past two years, investing in outdoor advertising and sports management companies. The world's largest consumer market has been slow to open its media industry to overseas investors.
"It's not surprising that Tom.com wants to break into the China market, and that's why investors are buying the stock," said Alice Leung, deputy head of ICEA Securities Ltd. "It's easier to go into publications related to sports or technology -- things that are not as politically sensitive."
Li, Asia's richest man, took advantage of surging Internet valuations to sell shares in Tom.com in March 2000, prompting would-be investors in Hong Kong to line up for blocks. The company's Web expectations deflated with the Internet bubble.
Amid online losses, Tom.com resorted to buying traditional media and advertising businesses. Last year, Tom.com bought Taiwan's PC Home Publishing Group and is now one of the nation's biggest magazine publishers.
Second-quarter publishing and advertising sales rose 27 percent from the first quarter to HK$248 million (US$31.8 million).
Tom.com also said this week it is forming a venture with a mainland publisher to distribute books and magazines in China, in which it will own 49 percent. Tom.com, based in Hong Kong and incorporated in the Cayman Islands, can't control the venture because it's deemed a foreign company by China.
Tom.com shares closed 4.4 percent lower at HK$2.20 in Hong Kong. They have fallen 43 percent this year compared with a 34 percent drop in the Hong Kong Growth Enterprise Market index.
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
‘EXTREME PRESSURE’: Beijing’s goal is to ‘force Taiwan to make mistakes,’ Admiral Tang Hua said, adding that mishaps could serve as ‘excuses’ for launching a blockade China’s authoritarian expansionism threatens not only Taiwan, but the rules-based international order, the navy said yesterday, after its top commander said in an interview that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could blockade the nation at will. The object of Beijing’s expansionist activities is not limited to Taiwan and its use of pressure is not confined to specific political groups or people, the navy said in a statement. China utilizes a mixture of cognitive warfare and “gray zone” military activities to pressure Taiwan, the navy said, adding that PLA sea and air forces are compressing the nation’s defensive depth. The navy continues to
RSS