A $2 billion effort to take PCCW private is still bogged down in the Hong Kong court system, first winning court approval to move forward despite regulator protests that the shareholder voting process was rigged, then being suspended hours later as regulators got an appeals court to intervene.
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) asserts that a February shareholder's vote was manipulated because 500,000 PCCW shares were handed out to employees of the Fortis Insurance Company (Asia) in an effort to swing votes in favor of the deal.
In the initial court ruling on Monday, a Hong Kong judge said she was unconvinced about tampering issues and said there was a lack of evidence for the regulator's claims. However, a two-judge appeals panel granted the SFC's request on Monday to put the lower court's approval on hold until April 16.
For more:
- AP reports on the latest part of the PCCW saga. Article.
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