"Hong Kong Government Hopes For Airport Privatization Bill At End 2004"

Tuesday, March 22, 2004

Hong Kong Government/ Hopes For Airport Privatization Bill At End 2004
Dow Jones 


HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- The government said Friday it "hopes" to present a
bill to lawmakers for the privatization of Hong Kong's Airport Authority
"around the end of 2004," leading to an eventual stock market listing. 

As a step toward that event, the government Friday published another draft
law, the Airport Authority (Amendment) Bill, which will permit the operator
of Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airport to return HK$6 billion of
its capital to the government. 

The draft will go before lawmakers in the city's Legislative Council
Wednesday, who will decide whether to allow the Airport Authority to return
almost a sixth of its HK$36.6 billion in equity capital to the government. 

The idea behind the capital return was, the government said in a statement,
"to optimize the AA's capital structure through a reduction of its capital"
to prepare it for listing. 

"We believe the capital restructuring plan proposed is the right step toward
the eventual privatization of AA - it can bring value to the government and
also to AA," a government spokesman said in a statement. 

"AA's financial strength should not be unduly affected by this exercise,"
the spokesman said. 

Lawmakers must first pass the bill to privatize the Airport Authority before
it can be listed. In a proposal outlined in February, the government said it
had opted for an initial public offering as the best way to privatize the
airport, because it provides an opportunity for public ownership. 


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