PCCW-Telstra IP backbone JV says no plan for spinoff/listing

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - Pacific Century CyberWorks chief financial officer David Prince said the IP backbone joint venture with Telstra Corp, Reach, has no immediate plans for a spinoff and listing. Speaking to reporters, Prince said there is no urgent need to spin off Reach for a separate listing. "We want to wait for the right time," Prince said, adding that current market conditions are not suitable for internet companies to go public and Reach has no need to raise money at the moment. "Both parents have raised 1.5 bln usd for the jv already. I see no financial problems for Reach," Prince said. Prince said the optical fibre undersea network - Asia Pacific Cable Network (APCN) Ltd II - in which Reach has a 6 pct stake will have paid for itself in 2-3 years. Prince, who is also a director of Reach, said the jv's current cashflow is able to cover its expenditure on APCN II. "The cashflow is more than enough to cover the expenditure," Prince said. Reach co-president John Hibbard said the capital expenditure of Reach is about 10-15 pct of its revenue. Prince said the total investment in APCN II is about 1 bln usd.

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