ATV to go off the air after 59 years - and HK$2b in debt
Updated: 2016-03-04 09:32
By Timothy Chui in Hong Kong(HK Edition)
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Asia Television (ATV) will go off the air today (Friday) after a 59-year run following months of protracted negotiations which failed to produce a solution to save the cash-strapped station.
Provisional liquidator Deloitte said the possibility of the station's demise had been likely ever since it ran into cash flow issues back in 2014. While a number of counterproposals by angel investor Si Rongbin have been suggested, none of them were approved by the consultancy.
Derek Lai Kar-yan, Deloitte's managing partner of China's Southern Region, said the conditions and offers forwarded by Si's lawyers were vague and lacked proper accounting and details. He added that allowing the station to continue in its current state would be fiscally irresponsible.
Lai said the liquidator had set a firm deadline of 5 pm on Thursday for an acceptable proposal, but none was forthcoming.
Deloitte lawyers will meet with ATV staff on Friday morning to discuss procedural matters. The exact time that ATV will go off the air is yet to be determined.
The Thursday evening layoff announcements came hours after the High Court lifted an order to prevent Deloitte from stopping operations.
Liquidator representative Harris Chang told the court no agreement had been reached with Si and major ATV shareholder Wong Ching by the start of the 10 am hearing on Thursday.
Ronald Sun, representative for Si, told the High Court that negotiations with liquidator Deloitte had yielded an administratively unreasonable compromise for Si.
Chang said the court had no right to interfere in Deloitte's liquidation of the company and its assets as no agreement was struck. He added that nothing concrete had been produced for months.
Staff members were already up in arms over Deloitte's attempt to immediately sack nearly all staff on Monday, which was halted by a legal application which culminated in Thursday's hearing.
ATV's Jeff Wong said the staff and the public wanted to see ATV fulfill its historical mission and only go off air at the scheduled end of its broadcast license.
Staff also continued their criticism of Deloitte's conduct, alleging its valuations were faulty and billings for consultation meetings had been excessive.
More than a few staffers said that fees paid to Deloitte to act as provisional liquidator would have gone a long way in covering back wages.
Chang, a representative for Deloitte, said ATV's last gasps for breath had "dragged on for ages". He said "something has gone very wrong with the management of ATV for years and that is why it is now in debt to the tune of HK$2 billion".
The broadcaster has been teetering on the brink of collapse for months, having repeatedly missed wage payments.
tim@chinadailyhk.com
(HK Edition 03/04/2016 page8)