China Mobile, I Squared in a bidding war for HKBN

Staff reporter and agencies

China Mobile Hong Kong unveiled an offer to buy out HKBN (1310) at HK$5.23 per share, slightly higher than the bottom end of I Squared Capital's offer, intensifying the war to purchase the local telecom service provider.

The offer by the mainland telecom giant is 7.6 percent higher than HKBN's closing price of HK$4.86 apiece on November 29.

The price also indicates a premium of 40.97 percent over HKBN's closing price of HK$3.71 on November 12, according to an announcement China Mobile released yesterday at 6.57pm.

It comes after a filing yesterday in which HKBN confirmed that it received a non-binding preliminary indication of interest from I Squared Capital, but the negotiation about the price is still ongoing.

I Squared Capital was reported to have proposed an initial offer price of HK$5-6 per share after CMHK indicated it was willing to pay at least HK$5 per share for their holdings last month.

Back in 2023, I Squared tried to buy HKBN but a deal was never reached, partly due to disagreements over valuation. It also drew preliminary takeover interest from investment firm IDG Capital earlier this year, Bloomberg reported.

HKBN shares have climbed 39 percent this year, giving the company a market value of about HK$6.4 billion.

HKBN's shares were on a trading halt yesterday and will resume today.