Hong Kong tycoon Woo's Wharf agrees to sell telecom unit to TPG, MBK for $1.2 billion: source

Hong Kong tycoon Peter Woo's Wharf Holdings Ltd <0004.HK> has agreed to sell its telecom business to a consortium of TPG Capital Management LP and MBK Partners for HK$9.5 billion ($1.22 billion), a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The field of contenders to buy the business had narrowed to the TPG-MBK group and telecom firm HKBN Ltd <1310.HK> after Wharf received about half a dozen final bids earlier this month.

TPG and MBK declined to comment, while Wharf didn't immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The person familiar with the matter declined to be identified because discussions on the transaction were private.

Woo's Wharf Holdings owns Hong Kong marquee properties including the Times Square and Harbour City shopping malls. Last year, it launched a strategic review of its communications, media and entertainment division.

The division being sold includes Wharf T&T - Hong Kong's second-largest fixed-line operator for businesses, according to the firm's website - and television broadcaster I-Cable Communications Ltd <1097.HK>.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)