壹传媒出售台湾业务

Next Media has agreed to sell its Taiwanese print and television media outlets to a group of local businessmen for NT$17.5bn ($601m), according to the Hong Kong-based group.

总部位于香港的壹传媒(Next Media)表示，已同意以175亿新台币（合6.01亿美元）将其在台湾的印刷和电视媒体业务出售给一批当地商人。

The controversial agreement to sell the assets, including the popular Apple Daily tabloid, was first announced in October but had been delayed as Next Media and the five buyers hammered out details.

这一有争议的协议最初于10月份宣布，因壹传媒与五位买家需要商定细节而被推迟，出售的资产包括《苹果日报》(Apple Daily)。

The print operation will be sold to a consortium of prominent local businessmen including Tsai Shao-Chung, president of Want Want Chinatimes Group; Jeffrey Koo Jr, whose family runs Chinatrust Financial Holding; Lee Shih-tsung, chairman of Lung Yen Life Service Corp; and William Wong, chairman of Formosa Plastics Group.

印刷业务将出售给由当地著名商人组成的财团，包括旺旺中国时报集团(Want Want Chinatimes Group)主席蔡绍中(Tsai Shao-Chung)、经营中国信托金融控股股份有限公司(Chinatrust Financial Holding)的家族成员之一辜仲谅(Jeffrey Koo Jr)、龙岩股份有限公司(Lung Yen Life Services Corp)董事长李世聪(Lee Shih-tsung)以及台塑集团(Formosa Plastics Group)总裁王文渊(William Wong)。

A second consortium, in which Lee Tai-hung, chairman of insurer Taiwan Fire and Marine replaces Mr Tsai, will buy Next’s TV operations, Next Media said.

壹传媒表示，另一家财团将收购壹传媒的电视业务。该财团的组成人员与前一家财团相仿，只是由台湾产物保险股份有限公司(Taiwan Fire and Marine)董事长李泰宏(Lee Tai-hung)取代了蔡绍中。

Most controversial locally is the involvement of Tsai Shao-chung, son of Taiwanese tycoon Tsai Eng-meng, whose Want Want group is one of the largest snack foodmakers in Chinese mainland and who is himself a well-known supporter of the Beijing government.

蔡绍中参与收购在台湾引发最大争议。蔡绍中是台湾大亨蔡衍明(Tsai Eng-Meng)之子。蔡衍明的旺旺集团(Want Want group)是中国大陆规模最大的点心食品制造商之一，他本人则是著名的亲北京人士。

The elder Mr Tsai already owns TV channels and newspapers in Taiwan, and critics say the Tsais’ involvement in Apple Daily’s Taiwan edition also raises concerns about growing media concentration, an issue regulators say they are examining.

蔡衍明在台湾已经拥有电视频道和报纸。批评人士表示，蔡绍中参与收购《苹果日报》台湾版将引发媒体日益集中的担忧。监管机构表示，它们正在研究这个问题。

The Apple Daily is the most read newspaper in Hong Kong and Taipei. The Hong Kong edition is unaffected by the Taiwan sale.

《苹果日报》是香港和台湾发行量最大的报纸。该报香港版不受出售台湾版的影响。

Next Media has said it is exiting Taiwan because its businesses there are not profitable, but the sale has sparked protests amid worries that the buyers’ business interests in China could lead the paper to self-censor criticism of the mainland.

壹传媒表示，它退出台湾是因为那里的业务不赚钱，但这次出售引发了抗议，人们担心，买方在中国大陆的商业利益，可能导致这份报纸自行审查对大陆的批评言论。

Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong-based founder of Next Media who fled the mainland as a child, is an outspoken critic of Beijing’s policies. That view is reflected in his tabloids, said Steve Tsang, an expert in Chinese and Taiwanese politics at the University of Nottingham. “Apple [Daily] was purely commercial but in terms of politics it was quite prepared to stand up on issues which would be seen as unfriendly to Beijing. The Want Want group is not, said Mr Tsang.

住在香港的壹传媒创始人黎智英(Jimmy Lai)幼年逃离大陆，他直言批评北京方面的政策。诺丁汉大学中国大陆与台湾政治专家曾锐生(Steve Tsang)表示，黎智英的这一立场反映在他的报纸中。曾锐生说：“《苹果日报》是一份纯商业性报纸，但在政治问题上，它很愿意在各种问题上采取被视为对北京不友好的立常旺旺集团则不然。

The sale is subject to regulatory approval. The Fair Trade Commission will hold a hearing this week on whether the combined market share of Mr Tsai’s Want Want and Next Media constitutes a monopoly in the media market.

这笔交易还需得到监管方的批准。台湾公平交易委员会(Fair Trade Commission)本周将举行听证，审查蔡绍中的旺旺集团与壹传媒联合起来的市场份额是否构成垄断媒体市常

Next Media shares were suspended in Hong Kong yesterday pending official announcement of the agreement, expected by today.

昨日壹传媒在香港股市停盘，等待正式宣布这笔交易。预计今日将正式宣布协议。

Additional reporting by Jason Liu

Jason Liu补充报道