Tawain's Wei family to buy cable operator CNS

Taiwan’s Wei family, which controls Hong Kong-listed noodle maker Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding (0322.HKG), has agreed to buy the island’s biggest cable TV and broadband multiple-systems operator, China Network Systems, for US$2.4 billion, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source. China Network Systems has about 1.2 million subscribers and has about 20% market share. The deal is subject to Taiwan’s regulatory approval, and a previous attempt by MBK to sell the company was scuttled after the chairman of intended purchasor Want Want China Holdings made pro-mainland comments in a newspaper interview in 2012. At the closure of the deal, China Network Systems would have to acquire US$1 billion in debt from private equity firm MBK partners.