Major domestic electronics giant Konka Group Co. said its second-largest shareholder sold its entire holding in the Shenzhen-based television and mobile phone maker to four companies.

The Hong Kong unit of Overseas Chinese Town Group, Konka's largest shareholder, sold 49.24 million Hong Kong dollar-denominated B shares, or 8.18 percent of Konka, to four companies at HK$3.16 per share in a block trade Wednesday.

First Shanghai Securities bought 3.3 percent of the Konka stake, or 19.86 million shares, Build United Ltd. took 20.06 million shares, or 3.33 percent of Konka's entire share capital, Nomura Securities Co. got 1.12 percent, or 6,750,000 shares, and Chuangli Development Hong Kong Holding Co. had 2,568,800 shares, or 0.43 percent. All the shares were sold at HK$3.16 per share, Konka said in a statement filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

After the share sale, Overseas Chinese Town Group, a Shenzhen-based tourism and real estate developer, still holds 174.95 million State legal person shares, or 29.06 percent, of Konka to remain Konka's largest shareholder. State legal person shares refer to shares held by State-controlled entities and are not tradable.

In February, Overseas Chinese Town Group won regulatory approval to sell a 4.82 percent stake in Konka to Thomson SA of France for 156.6 million yuan (US$18.91 million). The deal, on top of the 3.16 percent stake Thomson bought last November, has increased the French company's total interest in Konka to 7.98 percent and makes Thomson Konka's fourth-largest shareholder.

Konka, which has A and B shares listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, launched talks with foreign partners more than a year ago in an effort to expand overseas amid cutthroat competition from rivals and tough antidumping measures imposed on it by the United States.

The firm is also turning to high-end televisions such as liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and plasma display panels (PDPs) for growth as fierce competition in China's overcrowded television sector has eaten into the already razor-thin profit margins of low-end traditional models.

Source: Shenzhen Daily