Corrected: HK tycoon Woo's Wharf agrees to sell telecom unit to TPG, MBK for $1.2 bln -source
04/10/2016 10:03
(Corrects last paragraph to say sale does not include I-Cable)
HONG KONG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong tycoon Peter Woo's
Wharf Holdings Ltd 0004.HK has agreed to sell its telecom
business to a consortium of TPG Capital Management LP and MBK
Partners for HK$9.5 billion ($1.22 billion), a person familiar
with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The field of contenders to buy the business had narrowed to
the TPG-MBK group and telecom firm HKBN Ltd 1310.HK after
Wharf received about half a dozen final bids earlier this month.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1BE36A
TPG and MBK declined to comment, while Wharf didn't
immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The person familiar with the matter declined to be
identified because discussions on the transaction were private.
Woo's Wharf Holdings owns Hong Kong marquee properties
including the Times Square and Harbour City shopping malls. Last
year, it launched a strategic review of its communications,
media and entertainment division.
The division being sold includes Wharf T&T - Hong Kong's
second-largest fixed-line operator for businesses, according to
the firm's website - but it does not include television
broadcaster I-Cable Communications Ltd 1097.HK .
($1 = 7.7557 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
((denny.thomas@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6358; Reuters
Messaging: denny.thomas.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: WHARF HOLDINGS TELECOMS/SALE (CORRECTED, URGENT, P