Controversy over PCCW ownership dealings

It emerged yesterday that Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing financed a deposit that sealed the recent deal under which his son Richard Li sold a controlling 23% stake in the country’s largest telco PCCW to investment banker Francis Leung. The disclosure, reported in the Financial Times, has embarrassed all parties in the complex transaction, who have repeatedly insisted that Ka-shing was not involved in financing the deal.