Sing Tao Holdings chairman Sally Aw Sian has confirmed that talks are being held with various parties over the sale of her 50.25 per cent interest in the company, the first time she has personally discussed the sale.
She declined to comment on when any possible deal might go ahead and denied that Sing Tao's poor performance last year was creating obstacles to a sale.
Ms Aw said she was examining 'a number of purchase proposals', but she would not disclose the details until a deal was sealed. She said her age, 67, was a prime factor prompting her to sell the company.
'It's not about rumours that I have personal financial problems. It's more about my retirement,' she said after the company's annual general meeting yesterday.
Sing Tao, which owns Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao Daily News and English-language daily Hong Kong Standard, suffered a $115.99 million attributable loss after a $154.6 million write-down of its investment in publishing associate Culturecom Holdings in the year to March.
Property developer Mingly Corp backed away from the potential purchase of Ms Aw's stake in June, citing unsatisfactory due diligence investigations into Sing Tao's overall operations and accounts.