Henry Cheng-Led Consortium Likely to Control i-Cable in Open Offer Deal

i-Cable Communications Ltd. (1097.HK) is seeking to raise 704 million Hong Kong dollars ($90.5 million) in an open-offer deal that would pave way to a change of ownership to a company controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Henry Cheng.

The struggling pay-television operator said after markets closed Thursday that its controlling shareholder, Hong Kong conglomerate Wharf (Holdings) Ltd. (0004.HK), won't be subscribing for the offer shares that it is entitled to under the open offer. The move would give Wharf an exit from the media company as it decided to focus more on its core commercial property businesses, moving out of media and telecom.

Forever Top (Asia) Ltd., which is controlled by Henry Cheng and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd., has agreed to fully underwrite the open shares that are not taken up by i-Cable's existing shareholders, giving it up to a 62.5% stake in the pay-TV operating at most if no shareholders take up the shares. Other shareholders of Forever Top are David Chiu, Expand Ocean L.P. and Li Sze Lim.

In the fundraising plan, i-Cable will issue 3.35 billion offer shares at HK$0.21 each in a proportion of five offer shares for every three existing shares held by shareholders. The offer price represents a 65.6% discount to the stock's last traded price, it said. Shares of I-Cable, which were suspended on Tuesday, resumes trading Thursday.

Write to Joanne Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2017 21:54 ET (01:54 GMT)