Ting Hsin Group to sell Taiwan Star, buyers eager

Ting Hsin to sell Taiwan Star, buyers eager

Unable to withstand loan pressure, Ting Hsin Group is reported to be selling its stake in Taiwan Star, with the three major telecom operators and Taiwan Star shareholders all reportedly interested in taking over. However, Ting Hsin earlier issued a statement saying that there are indeed potential buyers in the market expressing high interest, but Ting Hsin Group has not made any strategic decision, and it does not deny selling its Taiwan Star stake, it is just that the buyer has not yet emerged.

Ting Hsin Group has confirmed it will sell its entire stake in 4G newcomer Taiwan Star. It is understood that after Far EasTone and Chunghwa Telecom expressed interest in taking over, Taiwan Star's other shareholders Cathay Financial Holding, CTBC and Cheng Uei Group also want to jointly invest 10 billion yuan to acquire the 52% stake in Taiwan Star held by the Wei family of Ting Hsin, making it the largest equity transfer deal in Taiwan's telecom industry in recent years.

After the cooking oil scandal broke out last year, Ting Hsin Group gradually carried out a plan to exit Taiwan, successively planning to sell its Taipei 101 stake and using family funds to repay a 6.5 billion yuan bank syndicated loan. In addition, the mortgage on the Sanchong Xinyan land will also be cancelled, and the 3 billion yuan previously planned to be donated to establish a food safety fund has also been put in place.

Taiwan Star was established in 2013 with registered capital of 20 billion yuan, obtained a 4G license, and merged with Vibo Telecom. It is understood that recently the Taiwan Star board of directors discussed the issue of other shareholders taking over Ting Hsin's stake, but who will lead in the future and how the equity ratios will be allocated among the parties have yet to be concluded.