News
First round bids for Wharf T&T due by the end of June, sources say.
Hong Kong’s Wharf Holdings is keen to sell its telecoms unit and has made contact with a more than a dozen potential suitors, it emerged this week.
The company’s Wharf T&T operation, which provides business and ICT services in Hong Kong, could be worth in excess of US$1 billion, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Wharf Holdings has asked major Chinese insurance companies and Western buyout forms to submit bids for the unit, the sources said.
The list of interested parties includes Anbang Insurance Group, Ping An Insurance Group, and semiconductor maker Tsinghua Unigroup, they said. Telecoms companies HKBN and SmarTone have also been invited to take part in the sale process.
First round bids are due by the end of this month, the newswire said.
Its sources believe the company could sell for 10 or 11 times EBITDA; last year, Wharf T&T generated EBITDA of HK$775 million (US$100 million at current exchange rates), putting any deal at around the US$1 billion mark or more.
