Next Digital to sell online edition of Taiwan Apple Daily

壹傳媒出售台灣蘋果日報網絡版

Next Digital aiming to ink agreement before end of July


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Apple Daily is seeking a potential purchaser for its online version due to operating losses, according to a statement from its parent company Next digital on Tuesday (June 29), per UDN.

Next Digital has been negotiating with a potential buyer and signed a non-binding letter of intent to dispose of Amazing Sino International Limited and its subsidiaries, the organizations in charge of publishing the digital version of Taiwan Apple Daily.

The potential buyer and Next Digital have been working to sign a final agreement by the end of July.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange suspended trading of Next Digital shares from June 17 pending further notice.

The move by Next Digital to sell the online edition comes one month after the termination of the print version of Taiwan Apple Daily, while it comes less than a week after Hong Kong Apple Daily was forced to shut down by the authorities.

Previously, the Taiwan subsidiary had issued a statement underscoring that its operations were unaffected by the closure of its counterpart in Hong Kong, saying that Next Digital subsidiaries are financially independent of one another.

In response to its "persistent operation losses," the newspaper in Taiwan terminated its print version and downsized 300 employees in mid-May. About 500 staff members have remained to serve the online publication.

Apple Daily was founded by Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), who is serving 20 months in prison for his role in the Hong Kong protests. He faces additional charges under the territory’s national security law that could lead to life imprisonment.

On June 17, over 500 officers from the Hong Kong Police raided the offices of Apple Daily and the homes of senior figures at the paper, arresting five people. On June 18, an opinion writer for the paper was also arrested at Hong Kong Airport while trying to flee.

The arrests were for alleged violations of the national security law in relation to op-eds that called for Hong Kong and China to be sanctioned.

With the paper’s assets frozen by the authorities, it ceased publication of both its print and digital versions in Hong Kong on June 24.