Great Wall Pan Asia Holdings

Great Wall Pan Asia Holdings Limited (formerly Armada Holdings Limited, SEHK: 583) is a property investment company in Hong Kong.[1]

Not to be confused with Armada Group.

The company was formerly known as SCMP Group Limited and changed its name to Armada Holdings Limited in April 2016 after it sold its media businesses, including South China Morning Post, to Alibaba Group. It also published the Hong Kong editions of Cosmopolitan, Cosmogirl and Harper's Bazaar. From 1996 to 2004, it operated a chain of convenience stores, Daily Stop, at MTR and KCR stations and in shopping malls before selling the stores to 7-Eleven.

History

Ownership

In 1903, SCMP Group Limited was founded.[2]

In November 1971, it was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was privatised by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 1987, and relisted in 1990. In October 1993, Robert Kuok's Kerry Group acquired a 34.9% stake in the SCMP Group from Murdoch's News Corporation. His son, Kuok Khoon Ean, took over as chairman at the end of 1997. The Kerry Group bought a further 30% stake in the publisher for HK$1.1 billion ($142 million) in 2008.[3] In March 2009, in a refinancing exercise, the controlling shareholder sold a 14.4% stake in the publisher to a consortium of banks in exchange for put call options exercisable within 4 years.[4]

Since February 2013, the group's shares have been suspended as the "free float" – proportion in public hands – fell below the 25% threshold set by the HKSE.[3][5] When three banks exercised options requiring Kerry Media to re-acquire their 14% stake in the group upon expiry on 27 February, the free float dropped to 11 percent of the capital.[3][6]

It was announced on 11 December 2015, following weeks of speculation, that Alibaba would acquire all the company's media assets, and said that editorial independence would be respected.[7]

In April 2016, the company announced that the transaction with Alibaba was completed. As the intellectual property rights to the name “SCMP” was transferred, the company changed its name to Armada Holdings Limited.[8][9]

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See also

References
  1. "SCMP GROUP LTD (583:Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited): Stock Quote & Company Profile - Businessweek". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  2. "SCMP GROUP LTD (583:Hong Kong): Company Description –". Businessweek. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  3. Chen, Lulu Yilun (19 February 2013). "SCMP Plunges as Acquisition Talks Dash Buyout Hopes". bloomberg
  4. Kerry Media Limited. "Announcement – Sale Of Shares Of SCMP Group Limited By Kerry Media Limited". Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
  5. Perez, Bien (22 August 2014). "SCMP profit buoyed by strong print and online ad sales". South China Morning Post
  6. Chen, Lulu Yilun (18 February 2013). "SCMP Halts as Publisher Jumps Most in 15 Years: Hong Kong Mover". bloomberg
  7. "Jack Ma's Alibaba buys South China Morning Post, paywall to be scrapped - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". 11 December 2015.
  8. "VERY SUBSTANTIAL DISPOSAL IN RELATION TO THE MEDIA BUSINESS AND SPECIAL CASH PAYMENT AND CHANGE OF NAME AND NOTICE OF SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING" (PDF). SCMP group. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  9. "COMPLETION ANNOUNCEMENT VERY SUBSTANTIAL DISPOSAL IN RELATION TO THE MEDIA BUSINESS AND SPECIAL CASH PAYMENT AND CHANGE OF NAME AND CHANGE OF PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS IN HONG KONG" (PDF). SCMP Group. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
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