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Bloomberg
Television Broadcasts Ltd., Hong Kong’s dominant free-to-air TV broadcaster, said it received an unsolicited offer for 29.9 percent of the company from TLG Movie & Entertainment Group and is gathering more information about the prospective buyer.
The broadcaster’s shares rose to the highest close in almost 11 months with trading volume quadruple the 3-month full-day average. A 29.9 percent stake would be valued at about HK$4 billion ($516 million) based on Thursday’s closing price.
Another change in top shareholders at TVB would come after Li Ruigang’s China Media Capital took a stake in 2015 through an investment group, and after co-founder, the late media mogul Run Run Shaw sold control to buyers including HTC Corp. Chairwoman Cher Wang in 2011. TVB said it needs to ensure any investor has resources to fulfill its six-year investment plan, while analysts estimates show the broadcaster will probably report a third annual decline in net profit for 2016 as more TV viewers turn to programming offered via internet.
Closely held TLG Movie didn’t provide information about its owners, source of funds or “proof of financial soundness,†according to the TVB filing. TLG shareholders are Wai Ho Choi Geoffrey and Dong Wei-tsun Kelvin, also its sole director, according to a filing. Wai is a non-executive director of TLG (HK) Holdings Ltd.
TVB said it will seek more information, “including in particular whether the possible purchaser has adequate financial resources†to fulfill the company’s six-year investment plan. The offer is conditional on shareholders voting down a proposed share buyback TVB announced last month, TLG Movie said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange Wednesday night.