Billionaire Cheng’s units agree to pay Giordano shareholders $242m
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The payout from companies owned by billionaire Henry Cheng to Giordano shareholders could total HK$1.5 billion.
PHOTO: ST FILE
HONG KONG – Business units owned by one of Hong Kong’s richest families have agreed to pay as much as HK$1.5 billion (S$242 million) to shareholders of clothing company Giordano International following an investigation by the city’s market watchdog into the firm’s ownership structure.
Two units of Chow Tai Fook Group, which is owned by the family of billionaire Henry Cheng, reached the settlement, according to a statement from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
The regulator found that Chow Tai Fook Nominee and its concert parties failed to make a mandatory general offer at HK$3.60 a share in 2016, when their combined stake in the clothing retailer surpassed 30 per cent.
Depending on the number of valid claims, the payout could total about HK$1.5 billion, the SFC said. That settlement would mark the largest payout tied to breaches of the Hong Kong Takeover Code, which governs takeovers, mergers and share buy-backs in the city.
The regulator also cited a 2022 breach in which Clear Prosper Global, also owned by Chow Tai Fook, allowed a HK$1.88 per share voluntary general offer to lapse despite the sole condition for the offer having been met, it added.
Under the settlement agreement, Clear Prosper and Sino Wealth International, another Chow Tai Fook entity, have agreed to make cash payments to compensate independent shareholders who held Giordano shares at the time of the rule breaches.
The SFC said the settlement is in the public interest and underscored the need to comply with takeover rules. BLOOMBERG
