Small investors divided ahead of PCCW vote

Minority shareholders in Pacific Century Regional Developments (PCRD), the Singapore-listed company through which Richard Li controls PCCW, Hong Kong's leading telecommunications company, were divided ahead of a vote in Singapore on Thursday over whether to approve a controversial sale, the Financial Times reported. Li, who controls 75% of PCRD's shares, has been barred from the ballot because his father, Li Ka-shing, is part of the consortium seeking to pay US$0.77 a share for PCRD's 23% stake in the telecoms company. Li attempted to withdraw from PCCW this summer by selling its core assets to either Australia's Macquarie Bank or TPG-Newbridge, the US buy-out group, but the deal was blocked by senior Chinese officials and China Netcom, a state-controlled telecommunications group that owns 20% of PCCW. Instead, Li offered to sell his 23% stake in the company to a consortium headed by Francis Leung, a prominent investment banker. The consortium includes Li's father and Spain's Telefonica.