Harbour Ring to issue 3.7 bln new shares
HONG KONG, March 10 (Reuters) - Toy maker Harbour Ring International Holdings Ltd
said on Friday it had agreed to sell a controlling stake to Internet Capital Group
(NasdaqNM:ICGE - news), Hutchison Whampoa and the Li Ka-shing Foundation by issuing
3.7 billion new shares at HK$0.30 each.
The gross proceeds of the subscription estimated at HK$1.12 billion would be used principally to acquire and build software and
service companies that enable business-to-business e-commerce, the company said in a statement.
Hutchison currently holds about 21.3 percent of Harbour Ring. After the subscription, Hutchison, ICG and parties in concert would
hold 82.1 percent of the enlarged issued share capital of the company.
ICG would be the controlling shareholder with about 45.9 percent of Harbour Ring, which would be renamed ICG AsiaWorks Ltd.
The issue price of HK$0.30 represents a discount of 75.6 percent of the stock's price of HK$1.23 before the trading suspension
on March 1. Trading will resume on Friday.
ICG would apply for a whitewash waiver, which would waive its obligation from making a general offer for Harbour Ring.
Shamrock, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, had agreed to grant a put option to Harbour Ring to
acquire all of the company's toy and property operations at HK$225.4 million, exercisable during a two-year period.
ICG, Hutchison and Li Ka-shing Foundation Ltd said on Thursday they would invest US$200 million to acquire control of Harbour
Ring, which would serve as an instant listing vehicle for an incubator and investment fund for Asian e-commerce companies.
The new ICG AsiaWorks would take stakes in 10 to 20 e-commerce related firms in the next 12 months, ICG said at a news
briefing on Thursday. |
