ASSOCIATED PRESS, 4/26/00 1:17:00 AM
SINGAPORE, Apr 26, 2000 (AP Worldstream via COMTEX) -- Singapore Telecommunications said Wednesday its option to bid again for Hong Kong's Cable and Wireless HKT was still open, after newspaper reports suggested it may join with News Corp. and a U.S. telecoms company in a joint bid.
``Our position is still open,'' SingTel spokesman Lim Seng Jin said.
SingTel withdrew its bid for Cable and Wireless HKT in February after losing out to Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li and his Pacific Century CyberWorks but kept its future options open.
``SingTel will keep its position under review and may reconsider its position in the light of the progress of the proposed offer and the circumstances in which Cable and Wireless's undertaking will lapse,'' the company said at the time in a statement.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that SingTel and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. are considering making a counter offer that could be valued at more than dlrs 30 billion in an attempt to capitalize on the current weakness in technology stocks, including Pacific Century CyberWorks.
Since late February, when Pacific Century CyberWorks agreed to buy Cable and Wireless HKT, the value of its cash and stock offer has dropped to U.S. dlrs 25.7 billion from an original dlrs 38.1 billion, Dow Jones reported.
The fall reflects the 53 percent plunge in Pacific Century's stock price since hitting a high on Feb. 15 of 28.50 Hong Kong
dollars (U.S. dlrs 3.66) a share.
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