Malaysia's IOI Properties Group has abandoned its plan to buy a 37.17% stake in the Taipei Financial Center Corp., which owns the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper. That’s the word from the finance ministry on Friday.
The Malaysian conglomerate was planning to buy the stake for US$799 million from the Ting Hsin Group. Ting Hsin sought to sell off its stake after becoming the target of massive public outcry over its involvement in several food safety scandals over the past year. But IOI announced on Friday that it decided to back out of the deal.
IOI’s bid had faced public opposition from government officials and politicians partly over fears that capital from China might be involved in the takeover plan. Critics also expressed reluctance to have such a famous landmark fall under foreign control.
After IOI’s announcement on Friday, the finance ministry said that it will continue with its original plan to acquire over 7% of shares from Ting Hsin in order to have a majority in the board of directors.
Currently, Taiwanese government interests led by the finance ministry hold a roughly 44% stake in Taipei 101.