Biz Scene: GRAPEVINE

Telecom sale talks

SK Telecom Co, South Korea's top mobile service operator, is in talks to sell its handset manufacturing business in China to a Chinese firm, a South Korean daily reported yesterday.

The sale could be completed by the end of the year, depending on the outcome of due diligence, the Dong-A Ilbo quoted industry sources as saying.

The company had invested 26 billion won ($27.85 million) in the Chinese plant earlier this year to produce an annual 250,000 handsets for sale in China and Eastern Europe.

Port deal

China Shipping Group Co agreed to invest $40 million for a 20 percent stake in a venture that will operate Egypt's Damietta container port, the South China Morning Post said, without revealing its sources.

The other five investors in the $200 million venture include Kuwait's KGL International Terminal, CMA CGM SA and United Arab Shipping, the newspaper said. It didn't identify the other two partners. The deal was signed earlier this week, the report said.

(China Daily 11/29/2007 page15)