PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai has reached an agreement in principle to buy the Hong Kong Economic Journal for HK$280 million. He will sign the deal with the daily's founder and chairman Lam Shan-muk and his wife Lok Yau-mui next month, sources told Eastweek magazine, a sister publication of The Standard.
Under the deal, Li will take control of half their stake in the newspaper first. The takeover will be completed within three years. The sources said both sides are just waiting for the paperwork.
"The contract could have been signed [last] week, but there are minor things yet to be solved, including how to transfer staff from the original company to the new company," one source said. "But both sides have reached a consensus regarding bigger issues. Staff transfers shouldn't be a problem. The agreement would be signed around mid-August."
The sources said the deal was struck after Li made concessions. Under the terms of the deal, a jointly-run company would be established to manage HKEJ.
Li will have a say over advertisements, accounts and administration, while the editorial will still be managed by a group of staff led by Lam. Li promised to keep the existing staff, telling a friend recently "we will continue to hire 99.9 percent of HKEJ staff."
For his part, Lam has agreed to continue contributing to the newspaper with his "Political and Economic Review" column. The newspaper's director, Cho Chi-ming, has also promised to continue contributing his "Inve
stors' Diary" column.Morris Ho Kwok-fai, the former executive director of Next Media authorized to hold talks with HKEJ on Li's behalf, will manage the administration and advertising departments.
Li has also arranged for former TVB general manager Chan Hing-cheung to prepare for the paper's future editorial direction. He is planning to list HKEJ and make more media acquisitions, the sources said.
According to the sources, Li plans to make HKEJ the Financial Times of Hong Kong. He will combine the newspaper with his dot-com business to build the most influential financial newspaper in the Greater China area.
"Li will first take HKEJ electronic to attract young readers, and upload online information about the stock market, so that the newspaper is both professional and popular, to boost the circulation and attract advertisements," one source said.
