Television Broadcasts plans to buy back up to 138 million of its shares for HK$4.21 billion in a transaction that could raise the stake held by its biggest group of shareholders to more than 40 per cent, which would trigger a mandatory general offer for all the shares they do not own.
That represented a 14.7 per cent premium to the stock’s closing price of HK$26.60 on Tuesday.
The city’s premier free-to-air terrestrial television broadcaster said Young Lion Holdings, which owns 113.9 million shares and leads the Young Lion Concert Party Group of shareholders, had confirmed it had no intention to accept the offer for any of the shares it held directly or indirectly.
As such, TVB said Young Lion Concert Party’s stake might increase to 43.66 per cent at the close of the offer from the current 29.9 per cent.
The company said its enlarged shareholding would trigger “an obligation on Young Lion Concert Party under Rule 26 of the Takeovers Code to make a mandatory general offer for all the shares not already owned by the group”.
