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Far EasTone buys Taiwan operator for $647m
28 June 2010
Taiwanese mobile operator Far EasTone is buying the owner of fixed operator Sparq
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Far EasTone
Sparq
New Century InfoComm
NCIC
China Mobile
Taiwan
Far EasTone Telecommunications will pay $646 million to buy the remaining 73.2% stake in fixed-line affiliate New Century InfoComm Tech (NCIC).
The Taiwanese mobile operator will pay $0.34 a share for 1.90 billion shares of unlisted New Century stock via a public tender offer. The tender offer can be extended by a maximum of 30 days. The shares will be bought through wholly owned Yuan Cing Infocomm Tech.
Far EasTone swapped a 4% stake in itself for a 24.5% stake in NCIC held by Singapore Telecommunications in 2007. At present, Far EasTone owns a 26.74% stake in New Century, which runs under the brand name Sparq.
The operator is also awaiting the opening of Taiwan’s telecom sector to mainland Chinese investment. Far EasTone’s board had approved a plan in April 2009 to sell up to 444 million new shares to China Mobile for $554 million, when China Mobile said it would acquire a 12% stake in Far EasTone. GTB