Further delay to PCCW (0008) privatisation
The privatisation has been delayed for one week as the Directions Hearing – a procedural hearing according to the announcement made by PCCW – has been postponed from 17 Feb 2009 to 24 Feb 2009. The most important court hearing – the High Court hearing to sanction the privatisation – scheduled originally for 24 Feb 2009, would now need to move further down the timetable. The chance of the privatisation being successfully completed seems to be lower as time progresses. Also, following Friday’s drop, the share price has dropped 17 cents today to HK$ 3.85.
There are just too many uncertainties to this privatisation: SFC’s investigation on the manipulation of the vote result in the shareholder meeting, the uproar of some minority shareholders, and the negative impression surrounding PCCW in most newspapers and magazines over the years since the dot-com bust: all have made Richard Li’s plan to privatise the company a harder feat than it originally seemed to be.
