HK tycoon Woo's Wharf agrees to sell telecom unit to TPG, MBK for $1.2 bln -source (updated)

Wharf Holdings

04/10/2016 11:18

* Telecom firm HKBN was last remaining rival bidder 
    * Sale comes after Wharf launched operations review 
    * Sale includes Wharf T&T, but not broadcaster I-Cable 
 
 (Adds Wharf T&T results, strategic review, share performance) 
    By Denny Thomas 
    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 private equity firms TPG Capital 
Management LP and MBK Partners Inc 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. 
The sale comes after Wharf said in March it was conducting a 
strategic review of its communications, media and entertainment 
arm.  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 marquee Hong Kong properties 
including the Times Square and Harbour City shopping malls. The 
division being sold includes Wharf T&T - the city'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 . 
    Wharf T&T had its best-ever half year results, Wharf 
Holdings said last month. A surge in demand for its data 
transmission and high-speed internet service for corporate 
clients helped operating profit jump 24 percent from a year 
earlier to HK$214 million. 
    But Wharf said its communications, media and entertainment 
segment - comprising both Wharf T&T and I-Cable - accounted for 
just 9 percent of group revenue and 1 percent of operating 
profit. 
    Wharf Holdings shares have gained nearly a third since the 
March strategic review announcement, while shares in I-Cable 
have nearly doubled. 
     
($1 = 7.7557 Hong Kong dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Denny Thomas; Additional reporting by Elzio 
Barreto; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) 
 ((denny.thomas@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6358; Reuters 
Messaging: denny.thomas.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: WHARF HOLDINGS TELECOMS/SALE