Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica and private foundations run by Asia’s richest man will buy the stake in PCCW owned by Chairman Richard Li, according to filings and statements made Monday.Li Ka-shing Foundation (LKSF), which is owned by Hong Kong real estate and telecommunications magnate Li Ka-shing, will buy 10 percent of his son Richard’s approximately 23 percent stake, while its Canadian counterpart, Li Ka-shing (Canada) Foundation, will buy 2 percent, according to an LKSF statement. The value of the 12 percent stake purchased by the two foundations is HK$4.85 billion (US$623 million). The elder Li will make a new donation of HK$4.04 billion to the foundations to finance the purchase, LKSF said.As stated in filings to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, Telefonica will purchase 8 percent of Richard Li’s stake, in a move designed to bring it closer to China Network Communications (China Netcom), which owns just under 20 percent of PCCW. China Netcom was instrumental in blocking bids for the Li stake from groups in Texas and Australia this summer. Telefonica already owns 5 percent of China Netcom’s Hong Kong-listed entity, China Netcom Group (Hong Kong).The deal was brokered by Francis P.T. Leung, a Hong Kong financier with long ties to Li Ka-shing. Leung will retain 2.65 percent of Richard Li’s stake upon its completion. The agreement, subject to closing terms, is expected to close in January 2007.The sale marks Richard Li’s exit from his once high-flying telecommunications company. In late 2000, PCCW, then basically an Internet startup, outbid Singapore Telecommunications to acquire Cable & Wireless HKT, in an attempt to make the company a regional telecom powerhouse. Despite huge ambition, the company’s performance never matched its hubris, and in 2003, Li stepped down as the company’s chief executive officer.-Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service (Beijing Bureau)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Rimini Street Dear Oracle Cloud…I need my own space Access results from a recent Rimini Street survey about why enterprises are rethinking their Oracle relationship and cloud strategy. By Tanya O'Hara Nov 28, 2023 5 mins Cloud Computing brandpost Sponsored by Rimini Street How to evolve IT systems into innovation engines Today’s IT leaders are more than eager to modernize with best-fit cloud solutions that drive innovation and rapid business impact, but they need to do so with ROI-based solutions. By Tanya O'Hara Nov 28, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks x Accenture Making sense of zero trust - why a managed SASE solution is the ideal option for enterprises Security leaders are turning to SASE as their preferred network security solution amid a new era of cloud-powered businesses working from anywhere. By CIO Contributor Nov 28, 2023 4 mins Network Security feature 8 tips for unleashing the power of unstructured data For most organizations, data in the form of text, video, audio, and other formats is plentiful but remains untapped. Here’s how to unlock business value from this overlooked data trove. By Bob Violino Nov 28, 2023 10 mins Data Mining Data Science Data Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe