PCCW

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PCCW Ltd.
FormerlyPacific Century CyberWorks Limited
Company typePublic
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded24 August 2000; 23 years ago (2000-08-24)
HeadquartersHong Kong, China
Key people
Richard Li (Chairman)
B.G. Srinivas (Group Managing Director) [1]
ProductsFixed-line, Broadband Internet access, IPTV, Mobile, IT Solutions, Data Centers, Contact Centers, Integrated Global Communications, Infrastructure, Advertising and Interactive Services
Owner
Number of employees
22,800 (2020)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese電訊盈科有限公司
Simplified Chinese电讯盈科有限公司
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese電訊盈科
Simplified Chinese电讯盈科
Second alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese電盈
Simplified Chinese电盈
ASN
  • 3491
Traffic Levels1Tbps+[2]
Websitewww.pccw.com

PCCW Limited (formerly known as Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited) is a Hong Kong-based information and communication technology (ICT) company.

The company is the major owner of telecommunications company HKT Limited, and also holds a major interest in Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited. PCCW headquartered in Hong Kong and operates in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, mainland China, and other parts of Asia.[3]

Main business and subsidiaries[edit]

HKT Limited[edit]

Subsidiaries and services[edit]

HKT Interactive Media/(Now TV/MOOV)[edit]

Moov is a lossless music digital streaming service based in Hong Kong. It provides music content, including songs, concert videos, MVs, and other music shows, under a monthly fee.

Former service

Viu[edit]

Viu is an Over-the-top (OTT) video service operated by PCCW Media, providing popular Korean dramas and variety shows.

ViuTV[edit]

ViuTV and ViuTVsix are a general entertainment television channels in Hong Kong operated by HK Television Entertainment (HKTVE). The channel serves as a free-to-air outlet for television programmes shown on the channels operated by Now TV. In 2015, HK Television Entertainment was granted a 12-year free-to-air television broadcast license by the Hong Kong Government.[18]

Lenovo PCCW Solutions[edit]

Lenovo PCCW Solutions Limited
FormerlyUnihub
Company typeLimited company
IndustryInformation Technology
FoundedAugust 15, 2022
HeadquartersHong Kong, China
Key people
Jerry Li, Chief Executive Officer
OwnerLenovo (84%) and PCCW (16%)
Websitewww.pccwsolutions.com

PCCW Solutions is the information technology services and business process outsourcing (BPO) division of PCCW. Press releases prior to February 2006 refer to PCCW Solutions[original research?] by the name Unihub.[19] Unihub was a re-branding of PCCW's Business eSolutions division, from 1 September 2003.[20]

Business eSolutions division formed a venture with China Telecom to provide IT solutions to major business organisations in 2002. This was in addition to PCCW's PCITC alliance with Sinopec, formed to serve Sinopec plus other players in China's petrochemical sector. The division also contributed to the new Hong Kong Identity Card system in 2003.[19]

In early 2003, Business eSolutions entered a contract to provide services for Bank of China's credit card back office processing system in China.[21] It also extended a 2002 enterprise resource planning (ERP) project into more provinces for China Mobile and completed the flight information display system (FIDS) for Xiamen Airport, and a human resource management and financial management system for the Hong Kong Council of Social Service.[22]

On August 15, 2022, PCCW and Lenovo started a strategic partnership to create a technology solutions business, forming Lenovo PCCW Solutions (LPS).

Lenovo becomes an effective 84% shareholder in Lenovo PCCW Technology Solutions (PLTS) via a direct 80% interest in PLTS and a 20% stake in PCCW Network Services, the holding company of PCCW's remaining IT solutions obligations in Hong Kong. LPS will focus on expanding its activities across Asia, including Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Lenovo and PCCW believe it represents over $300B in addressable IT Services market opportunity.[23]

Pacific Century Premium Developments[edit]

Majority-owned by PCCW, Pacific Century Premium Developments ("PCPD", SEHK432) develops and manages property and infrastructure projects, as well as investments in buildings in the Asia-Pacific region. PCCW acquired a majority stake in Dong Fang Gas Co. Ltd through a back door listing in 2004, injecting the development rights to the Cyberport project, which includes the Bel-Air residential development, and renamed it Pacific Century Premium Developments.[24][25]

Apart from the Bel-Air residential development, PCPD holds the right of first refusal to redevelop 60 PCCW-owned telephone exchange buildings into residential and commercial properties.[24]

Past subsidiaries[edit]

UK Broadband[edit]

The UK Broadband Group (shortened to UKBG for marketing) is a wholly owned subsidiary and upstream service provider. Its UK business has been a failure. In June 2014, UKBG launched a 4G service in central London. In February 2017, PCCW agreed to sell UKBG to related[clarification needed] company CK Hutchison Holdings.[26][27][28]

Jaleco[edit]

Corporate history[edit]

The legal person of PCCW Limited was incorporated as "Ring Holdings Limited" (Chinese: 群山企業有限公司) on 24 April 1979. It was renamed several times and known as Tricom Holdings Limited [zh] (Chinese: 得信佳集團有限公司) in 1992. In October 1994, Tricom Holdings became a listed company.[29][30] In May 1999 Richard Li acquired the company,[31][32] and as a backdoor listing, the listed company was renamed to Pacific Century Cyberworks Limited (Chinese: 盈科數碼動力有限公司; abb. PCCW) in the same year.

In March of the same year, Richard Li's private company Pacific Century Group won a controversial land deal, acquiring valuable waterfront real estate from the government without any public auction bids. The Hong Kong government, under chief executive Tung Chee Hwa, gave away the land to his new high-tech residential and commercial venture called Cyberport.[33] The development of Cyberport was later injected to[clarification needed] PCCW.

The stock of Pacific Century CyberWorks rose from HK$6.00 to HK$19.50 between 1 and 28 December 1999. 23 Dec is a Heritage of Pacific Century CyberWorks, breaking the record of a single company in Hong Kong history with a HK$5 billion transaction. Pacific Century CyberWorks became the seventh-listed (value over HK$170 billion) company on the Hong Kong Exchange on 28 December 1999.[citation needed]

PCCW acquired Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) in August 2000, which was formerly known as the "Hong Kong Telephone Company" (founded in 1925).[citation needed] Initially, HKT owner Cable & Wireless entertained a bid from Singapore Telecommunications, but there was Beijing concern about a Singapore company owning the largest Hong Kong telephone system.[citation needed] PCCW entered the scene and offered Cable and Wireless PCCW stock and US$11 billion in bank loans by HSBC, Bank of China, BNP Paribas & Barclays.[34] The acquisition vaulted PCCW from a dot-com holdings company to one of the largest universal corporations in Hong Kong. PCCW is now also the leading Internet service provider in Hong Kong, using the Netvigator brand for dial-up modem and DSL service. PCCW was the object of much scorn in Hong Kong as a result of the HKT purchase.[citation needed] In 2003, the company's stock price was down 96 percent from its 2000 peak.[citation needed] In the face of challenges due to debt, intense local telecoms competition and a struggling international joint venture Reach (50/50 owned by PCCW and Telstra), PCCW was the worst-performing blue chip on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) in 2002 and 2003.[citation needed] Stock price came down from HK$129.25 to HK$4.7 in less than three years.[35]

In 2003, Cable and Wireless finished cashing in all the stock from the 14.7 percent stake it had in PCCW. Worth US$5 billion at the time of the 2000 acquisition of HKT, the stock sales yielded only $1.9 billion in the end.[citation needed]

Richard Li resigned as PCCW's chief executive officer in July 2003 but remained chairman and executive director. Jack So, who left his chairman position at Hong Kong subway operator MTR Corporation Limited, took up the job of group managing director at PCCW on 25 July 2003.

The incumbent managing director is George Chan. Former Infosys president B.G. Srinivas has been announced as the group's managing director, effective July 2014.[1]

After several years as a wholly owned subsidiary, PCCW floated HKT again in 2011.

FBI surveillance[edit]

According to the leaked document, undersea cabling company Reach – a joint venture of Telstra (then 50.1 percent-owned by the Australian Government) and PCCW, a Hong Kong corporation – had to send all communications to or from US to a storage facility "physically located in the United States, from which Electronic Surveillance can be conducted pursuant to Lawful US Process." The document also specifies the facility should be run exclusively by US FBI staff.[36][37]

Attempted privatisation[edit]

Although PCCW's substantial shareholder China Netcom had earlier expressed objection to any disposal of key assets to foreign groups, it also refused to increase its stake; Richard Li attempted to exit from the business in 2006. Li received competing offers from two consortia led by Australia's Macquarie Bank and private equity firm Texas Pacific/Newbridge, submitted expressions of interest last month to acquire PCCW's core telecom and media assets.[38]

PCCW chairman Richard Li has agreed to sell his indirectly held 22.66 percent stake in PCCW on 11 July 2006 to Fiorlatte Ltd, a new startup company wholly owned by Francis Leung Pak-to, for a total consideration of HK$9.16 billion. In turn, Francis Leung Pak-to has agreed to sell an 8% stake in PCCW to Telefónica for 323 million euros.[citation needed] Leung, former Peregrine investment banker, is closely associated with Li Ka-shing. PCCW's stock, which had joined Hang Seng Index (HSI) index on 9 August 2000,[39] ceased to be a HSI constituent, effective 10 June 2008.[40]

Purported Cable & Wireless takeover bid[edit]

News report from the Sunday Times on 6 February 2003 revealed that PCCW made a preliminary takeover approach to Cable & Wireless in December 2002 as the British company's share languished near record lows.[41]

Li told the Sunday Times newspaper that PCCW would not launch a hostile bid for C&W but that the two companies could work together to enhance shareholders' value.

The Times quoted Li as saying that he was planning to try again that week with a two billion pound (US$3.27 billion) bid for C&W. Following the news report, PCCW issued a statement through the Hong Kong stock exchange on 6 February 2003 morning saying it had not made a formal offer for C&W and was not in takeover talks with the company. Later in the day, in London and Hong Kong, PCCW issued statements saying it had made a preliminary takeover approach to C&W in a letter at the end of 2002.

PCCW apologised on 10 February 2003 for making what some in the market see as contradictory statements. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange demanded an explanation from PCCW after noting discrepancies between the two statements regarding its approach to C&W about a possible bid.

In any case, C&W had rebuffed PCCW's takeover approach by February 2003.[42]

Privatisation plan[edit]

In a heated shareholders meeting held on 4 February 2009, which lasted seven and a half hours, the shareholders approved the PCCW plan allowing its majority shareholders to force out all minority shareholders of the company amidst allegations of vote-buying.[43] Privatisation would allow PCCW to be delisted from Hong Kong Stock Exchange,[44] while its parent would remain listed in Singapore.

Governance activist David Webb alerted the authorities to allegations that hundreds of agents at Fortis Insurance Co. (Asia), once part of PCCW, may have been given board lots of 1,000 PCCW shares.[45] The Securities and Futures Commission found that Francis Yuen, a Li associate, and member of the buyout group, had instructed a senior executive at Fortis to distribute PCCW shares to about 500 Fortis agents. Yuen and Fortis Asia regional director, Inneo Lam, had exchanged telephone calls shortly before Lam ordered half a million PCCW shares that were later split into board lots and given away to his staff;[46] Lam's secretary had asked for, and received, share transfer forms from Yuen's secretary. Majority shareholders gained approval from the High Court to proceed with their US$2.2 billion privatisation, but the Appeals Court unanimously overturned the ruling.[47]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ "PeeringDB".
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  4. ^ "About Us". Hong Kong: PPS. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  5. ^ 繳費靈4戶口被盜15萬 17歲少年 承認46項罪 判教導所. Apple Daily (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
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  12. ^ 被游說裝 eye多媒睇得物無所用. Apple Daily (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
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  14. ^ "Console Connect Acquired" (Press release). PCCW Global. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  15. ^ Oct 20, david nunes |; Releases, 2014 | Press (20 October 2014). "PCCW Global acquires Crypteia Networks to address cyber security issues facing most organisations today". Connect-World. Retrieved 12 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  17. ^ "iTV chief expects to break even in 2 years". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. 21 October 1998. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  18. ^ "PCCW, I-Cable Win Broadcast Television Licenses in Hong Kong". 16 October 2013.
  19. ^ a b "News & Events" (Press release). PCCW Solutions. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  20. ^ "PCCW attains BS 7799" (Press release). PCCW Solutions. 17 November 2003. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  21. ^ "PCCW Solutions – Who we are". www.pccwsolutions.com. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  22. ^ "PCCW Solutions – Enterprise Resources Planning". pccwsolutions.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  23. ^ "Lenovo PCCW Solutions – COMPLETION OF DISCLOSEABLE TRANSACTION AND CONTINUING CONNECTED TRANSACTIONS WITH LENOVO".
  24. ^ a b "After Selling PCCW, in which industry will RICHARD LI find his future?". Asia Sentinel.
  25. ^ Andrew Coffey (12 May 2004). "Cyberport tech park still has doubters". The Age.
  26. ^ "PCCW shares surge after sale of UK broadband unit". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  27. ^ Reuters Editorial. "HK's PCCW agrees to sell British broadband unit to CK Hutchison". Reuters. Retrieved 26 January 2018. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  28. ^ "Three UK agrees to buy PCCW-owned UK Broadband Limited in £250m deal". capacitymedia.com. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  29. ^ "HONG KONG – Tricom oversubscribed". International Financing Review. 15 October 1994. Retrieved 21 May 2018. This month's Tricom Holdings IPO officially closed 12% oversubscribed on 5 October. The 63m share sale at HK$1.20 per share will be listed this Monday.......
  30. ^ "PCCW LTD. (8)". Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  31. ^ "A Property Play? Pacific Century To Use Tricom as Listed Vehicle". Wall Street Journal. 5 May 1999. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  32. ^ "Tricom rockets on Cyberport interest". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. 5 May 1999. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  33. ^ "Cyberport Critics Get Stake Hint". AFP. Hong Kong Standard. 21 March 1999. Archived from the original on 22 November 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  34. ^ Y. C. Jao, The Asian Financial Crisis and the Ordeal of Hong Kong, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, p. 214.
  35. ^ "0008 – Google Search". www.google.com.hk.
  36. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). media.crikey.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  37. ^ "Telstra's deal with the devil: FBI access to its undersea cables". crikey.com.au. 12 July 2013.
  38. ^ Hong Kong PCCW's Li sees decision on any asset disposals by mth-end[dead link], AFX News Limited, Forbes Magazine, 3 July 2006
  39. ^ "Changes in HSI Constituent Stocks". Hang Seng Indexes. Archived from the original (Excel/XLS) on 15 April 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  40. ^ "Hang Seng Indexes Announces Index Review Results" (PDF) (Press release). Hang Seng Indexes. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 October 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  41. ^ "Hong Kong tech firm mulls C&W bid". BBC News. 10 February 2003. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  42. ^ "Cable & Wireless shuns PCCW". The Asian World Street Journal. 10 February 2003. Retrieved 18 March 2008.[dead link]
  43. ^ Benjamin Scent, "It's outrageous Archived 4 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine", The Standard, 21 April 2009
  44. ^ Mark Lee, "PCCW Investors Approve Li's $2.05 Billion Buyout Bid", Bloomberg, 4 February 2009
  45. ^ Frederick Yeung, "PCCW move to go private approved", Page A1, South China Morning Post, 5 February 2009
  46. ^ Jonathan Cheng, "Regulators Detail PCCW Allegations", Wall Street Journal, 30 April 2009.
  47. ^ "HK court hears call for PCCW privatisation revote", Reuters, 17 April 2009.

External links[edit]