The government will sell 7.2 percent of Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan's biggest phone company, to mainly domestic investors in order to plug a budget deficit forecast to reach NT$195 billion (US$5.9 billion) this year.
A total of 694 million shares will be sold, pending regulatory approval, at a price to be set by a government committee, said Teng Tien-lai (鄧添來), director general at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. At Chunghwa's closing share price yesterday of NT$68.50, the sale would raise NT$47.5 billion (US$1.4 billion) for the government.
"We want to complete the offering by the end of June," Teng said.
Last year the government sold less than a fifth of the 15 percent of Chunghwa shares it offered.
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