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Next Media deal close
to signing
NOT SOLD: The deal has not been confirmed, but
the outlets’ unions called on their new bosses to vow to respect editorial
autonomy, which they said could not be bought
By Stacy Hsu / Staff writer, with CNA
Labor union members from Next
Media Group outlets the Apple Daily, Next TV, Next Magazine and Sharp Daily
protest alongside media activists in Taipei over a planned buyout of the outlets
yesterday.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
A cloud of secrecy yesterday surrounded
the expected signing in Macau of a deal between Next Media Group (壹傳媒集團) and a
consortium of three Taiwanese business leaders for the acquisition of Next
Media’s four outlets in Taiwan, a deal that raises the specter of increased
Chinese influence over Taiwanese media.
According to reports by the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily, a consortium led by
Chinatrust Charity Foundation (中信慈善基金會) chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒), Formosa
Plastics Group (台塑集團) chairman William Wong (王文淵) and Want Want China Times
Group (旺旺中時集團) chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) was to sign a contract to buy the
media outlets from the Hong Kong-listed Next Media at 3pm in Macau.
The former Portuguese colony was reportedly chosen as the location for the
signing because of tax incentives.
As of press time, none of the parties involved in the acquisition had confirmed
news of the signing. Reports said that as of 8pm, negotiations were still
ongoing.
Next Media signed a memorandum of understanding with Koo in the middle of last
month, following Hong Kong media baron Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) announcement that he
was selling the four outlets — the Chinese-language Apple Daily, Next Magazine,
Sharp Daily and Next TV — for NT$17.5 billion (US$600 million).
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密), which had also been tipped as a
potential fourth buyer, rejected rumors of a role in the deal yesterday and
declined to comment further.
There was also media speculation that Lung Yen Life Service Co (龍巖集團) could be a
fourth buyer.
In Hong Kong, Next Media did not suspend trading of its shares and experienced a
quiet trading session in the morning.
Following media reports in the afternoon that the deal for the Taiwanese outlets
was to be finalized, the company’s shares rose 4.6 percent to HK$1.59 and closed
with a trading volume of HK$15 million (US$1.9 million).
The deal will require the approval of Taiwan’s regulatory authorities — the
Financial Supervisory Commission, the Fair Trade Commission and the National
Communications Commission — to be valid.
Meanwhile, the unions of the four Taiwanese outlets, which staged an overnight
sit-in at the company’s headquarters in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) on Monday
night, issued a statement urging the new owners to sign a deal with journalists
to safeguard their editorial independence.
“Today, Nov. 27, 2012, is an unfortunate day for all Next Media Group employees.
It is on this day that the contract for Next Media buyout is signed and one
month from now, the group will have new owners,” the statement said.
The statement added that while they were forced to accept the new owners, of
whose credentials and motives the public and Next Media Group employees are
skeptical, the owners should think about how to regain the trust of their
employees and their readers.
“If you [the new owners] are only buying these outlets for the sake of
glorifying or covering up the negative news for your flagship enterprises, or
for the purpose of using the group as a bargaining chip when your corporations
enter the Chinese market, you are doomed to be despised by the Taiwanese public
and eventually get caught in your own traps,” the statement said.
“You [the new owners] may be able to buy the Next Media Group with NT$17.5
billion, but you can never buy our [the employees’] souls,” the statement added.
The statement also urged the new owners to make public their transaction
processes via a press conference and to write in black and white their pledges
not to lay off employees or change employee benefits.
Dozens of Next Media employees in Hong Kong last night held a candlelight vigil
at the company’s headquarters in Kowloon in solidarity with their colleagues in
Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
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