Despite rejection from the Hong Kong exchange for a waiver to issue new shares, hongkong.com is still interested in cooperating with BigStoreAsia.com, according to a source.
A source told asia.internet.com that Rudy Chan, chief executive officer of hongkong.com said his firm is still interested in an alliance with BigStoreAsia.com. But terms and conditions would need to be renegotiated to complete the deal.
“While the decision with respect to our waiver means that we will not proceed with issuing new shares at this time, we certainly will continue to build relationships with strategic content and e-commerce partners consistent with our regional business model,” according to Chan in the company’s announcement.
A subsidiary of chinadotcom [CHINA Nasdaq], hongkong.com applied for a waiver to issue new shares less than a month after its IPO to take majority stake (51 percent) in BigStoreAsia.com for US$100 million (HK$ 778 million).
The company raised HK$1.2 billion (US$153.85 million) in its IPO in early March and planned to fund the new investment with cash and an issue of new shares.
The rejection on waiver application has forced hongkong.com to put off the transaction.
Formed in last September, TheBigStoreAsia.com intends to provide a range of products at the lowest cost with local language cyber-shopping services to consumers. The Web site is expected to be formally launched in the second quarter.