[April 23, 2009] HK TELECOM OPERATOR PCCW SUSPENDS PRIVATIZATION BID Tweet HONG KONG, Apr 23, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- Hong Kong's premier telecom operator PCCW (SEHK:0008) decided to shelf its privatization bid Thursday, a day after a local court blocked the attempt. PCCW Chairman Richard Li said here in a statement that the co-offerors have decided not to extend the deadline of the privatization as it expires on April 23. "From a commercial perspective and taking into account the company's interests...the privatization proposal will now lapse," Li said. The privatization proposal was put forward in February and got the go-ahead at a shareholders meeting. However, a group of minority shareholders lodged a complaint, saying the approval was not valid since some shareholders were paid to vote in favor of the scheme. The approval was considered lawful by Hong Kong's High Court on April 6. But in a dramatic turn of events, Hong Kong's Court of Appeal overturned the High Court ruling on Wednesday. "We are disappointed at the ruling of the Court of Appeal but we will await the release of the written judgment and we will study the reasons for the Court's decision before commenting further," Li said. The chairman also said the board of PCCW has decided to declare a special dividend payment of 1.30 HK dollars (US$0.17) to shareholders in lieu of a final dividend for 2008. (XIC) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]