Taiwan Today

China Development Financial Holdings announced July 6 it has sold off its remaining shares in the Taipei Financial Center Corp. to an investment arm of Ting Hsin International Group for a total cost of NT$3.735 billion (US$113 million), or NT$13 per share. According to its most recent financial statement, the net value per share for Taipei Financial Center stocks is estimated at NT$8.02. Thus CDFH sold its shares at a 60-percent premium, and is estimated to have made an NT$860 million profit from the transaction. Taipei Financial Center is the owner of the Taipei 101 building, which for several years was the tallest building in the world. The transaction represents the largest amount ever paid for a stake in a skyscraper in Taiwan. A spokesman for CDFH said it has always been the policy of CDFH to divest itself of its less important possessions. In any case, the company does not know how to run department stores, of which Taipei 101 has many. Thus such a transaction only makes sense for CDFH, the spokesman said. The purchase is also of interest because it is thought of as a benchmark transaction, signaling that Taiwanese investors are beginning to repatriate their capital. The Ting Hsin International Group is best known for its “Master Kong” instant noodles that have made the company a fortune in mainland China. Ting Ji, the investment arm of Ting Hsin in whose name the purchase was made, was founded overseas by the Wei brothers with an initial capital of NT$500,000. Wei Ying-chiao, chairman of Ting Hsin, is also chairman of the board at Ting Ji, while the other three Wei brothers all serve on its board of trustees. Through its subsidiary company the China Development Industrial Bank, CDFH held a 19-percent stake in Taipei 101, the most of any shareholder. After its shares are formally transferred to Ting Ji, CDFH will lose its two seats on Taipei Financial Center’s board of trustees. The Chinatrust Group is the parent company of CDFH. It owns another 6-percent share in Taipei Financial Center through two other subsidiaries, China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and China Trust Commercial Bank. Whether the two institutions will follow in the footsteps of CDFH remains to be seen. (TYH-HZW)