Hong Kong, April 19 (Bloomberg) -- News Corp. may try to take over Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd. now that a drop in share prices threatens to abort Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd.'s plans to acquire Hong Kong's No. 1 phone company, the Australian newspaper reported, without naming its sources.
CyberWorks shares have fallen 36 percent since Internet entrepreneur Richard Li's company reached a takeover agreement with Cable & Wireless Plc of the U.K., which owns 54 percent of HKT, on Feb. 29. Now, though, an unsuccessful rival bid by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., which was backed by News Corp., could look more attractive since SingTel shares have fallen just 8.6 percent over the same period.
Shares of CyberWorks were recently quoted at HK$14.40, up 1.05 percent from yesterday. HKT shares rose 1.8 percent to HK$17.35. News Corp. gained 4.5 percent to A$19.04. SingTel shares were up 0.8 percent at S$2.44.
``We are not aware of any other bidders,'' said CyberWorks spokeswoman Rebecca Leung. ``Our plan is moving ahead as scheduled.''
News Corp. officials declined to comment, while SingTel said its offer for HKT, rejected in February, still stands. HKT officials couldn't be reached.
Analysts were skeptical about any move by News Corp., Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, to revive the bidding war for HKT.
``I don't think News Corp. is going to make a rival bid,'' said Greg Feldberg, an analyst at Indosuez W.I. Carr Securities in Hong Kong. ``Cable & Wireless has signed an agreement to accept the CyberWorks bid and that is almost irrevocable.''
No Solicitation
Under the agreement between CyberWorks and C&W Plc, the British phone company can't solicit other offers for HKT before July 13, as long as the CyberWorks offer proceeds on schedule.
CyberWorks in February said it would buy HKT for as much as $38 billion. HKT shareholders have the choice between US$0.929 in cash and 0.7116 CyberWorks share for each one of their shares, or 1.1 CyberWorks shares for each HKT share.
The offer would give C&W Plc at least $6 billion in cash plus a 23 percent stake in what would be called PCCW-HKT, according to analyst Feldberg.
``I don't think it's likely that Cable & Wireless is going to back out of this deal,'' he said. ``It's not easy getting someone to give you $6 billion in the present environment.''
Last month, HKT's board of directors agreed to let the CyberWorks offer proceed through a so-called scheme of arrangement, instead of a general offer.
Under the scheme of arrangement, CyberWorks needs approval from just 75 percent of all HKT shareholders, including majority stakeholder C&W Plc. In a general offer, it would need support from 90 percent of HKT's minority shareholders before it could declare the offer compulsory.
C&W Plc needs only the support of a simple majority of its shareholders physically present at a shareholders' meeting to approve its decision to sell HKT to CyberWorks -- a move which analysts believe would help smooth its way into China's fast- growing telecoms market.
Telstra Corp., Australia's No.1 telephone company, last week said it would invest $3 billion in CyberWorks, provided the Internet company completed its acquisition of HKT.
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CyberWorks shares have fallen 36 percent since Internet entrepreneur Richard Li's company reached a takeover agreement with Cable & Wireless Plc of the U.K., which owns 54 percent of HKT, on Feb. 29. Now, though, an unsuccessful rival bid by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., which was backed by News Corp., could look more attractive since SingTel shares have fallen just 8.6 percent over the same period.
Shares of CyberWorks were recently quoted at HK$14.40, up 1.05 percent from yesterday. HKT shares rose 1.8 percent to HK$17.35. News Corp. gained 4.5 percent to A$19.04. SingTel shares were up 0.8 percent at S$2.44.
``We are not aware of any other bidders,'' said CyberWorks spokeswoman Rebecca Leung. ``Our plan is moving ahead as scheduled.''
News Corp. officials declined to comment, while SingTel said its offer for HKT, rejected in February, still stands. HKT officials couldn't be reached.
Analysts were skeptical about any move by News Corp., Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, to revive the bidding war for HKT.
``I don't think News Corp. is going to make a rival bid,'' said Greg Feldberg, an analyst at Indosuez W.I. Carr Securities in Hong Kong. ``Cable & Wireless has signed an agreement to accept the CyberWorks bid and that is almost irrevocable.''
No Solicitation
Under the agreement between CyberWorks and C&W Plc, the British phone company can't solicit other offers for HKT before July 13, as long as the CyberWorks offer proceeds on schedule.
CyberWorks in February said it would buy HKT for as much as $38 billion. HKT shareholders have the choice between US$0.929 in cash and 0.7116 CyberWorks share for each one of their shares, or 1.1 CyberWorks shares for each HKT share.
The offer would give C&W Plc at least $6 billion in cash plus a 23 percent stake in what would be called PCCW-HKT, according to analyst Feldberg.
``I don't think it's likely that Cable & Wireless is going to back out of this deal,'' he said. ``It's not easy getting someone to give you $6 billion in the present environment.''
Last month, HKT's board of directors agreed to let the CyberWorks offer proceed through a so-called scheme of arrangement, instead of a general offer.
Under the scheme of arrangement, CyberWorks needs approval from just 75 percent of all HKT shareholders, including majority stakeholder C&W Plc. In a general offer, it would need support from 90 percent of HKT's minority shareholders before it could declare the offer compulsory.
C&W Plc needs only the support of a simple majority of its shareholders physically present at a shareholders' meeting to approve its decision to sell HKT to CyberWorks -- a move which analysts believe would help smooth its way into China's fast- growing telecoms market.
Telstra Corp., Australia's No.1 telephone company, last week said it would invest $3 billion in CyberWorks, provided the Internet company completed its acquisition of HKT.
Raging Bull Advertisement - Open A Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Online Account!
BoardMark MemberMark Ignore Poster Report TOS Violation
PCCLF Update
Last 1 29/32
Chg. 1/4
% +15.15 %
Time 16:00:00
Detailed | Real-Time
Nasdaq delayed 15 minutes, 20 min. otherwise.