Hutch and KPN in legal battle
HONG KONG conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and Dutch telco KPN are limbering up for a multi-million pound High Court battle that will throw the spotlight on Britain's troubled 3G mobile phone service, 3UK.
Hutch, controlled by Asia's richest businessman Li Ka-shing, is suing KPN for compensation after the Dutch company refused in April to provide £150m for their fledging 3G service.
KPN has counter-sued Hutch, which controls 65% of 3UK, claiming the ports-to-telecoms group breached a shareholders' agreement when it backed the funding call. As part of its claim, it has demanded that Hutch buy out its 15% stake in 3UK at 140% of its 'fair value'.
The 3UK venture, which is 20% held by Japan's NTT DoCoMo, has been plagued by start-up glitches and lacklustre demand.
The court hearing is set for next Monday.
