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Wednesday, July 4, 1973
STAR FERRY TO MERGE WITH HONG KONG AND KOWLOON WHARF
The Legislative Council today adopted a motion clearing the
way for a merger between the Star Ferry Company and the Hong Kong and
Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company.
The motion involved an amendment to the schedule of the Star
Ferry Company (Services) Ordinance to ensure that the wharf company would
remain public with its shares freely transferable, and that the majority
of its directorate, management and administrative staff are British subjects.
These requirements already apply to the ferry company.
In moving the motion, the Financial Secretary, the Hon. C.P. Haddon-
Cave, said the main intention behind these provisions was to ensure that
the company would not be under the control of a single individual or of
an organisation in which the Hong Kong public is not substantially interested.
"The merger will, in fact, further the intention of these
requirements since the public's shareholding in the wharf company is far
wider than its shareholding in the ferry company," he said.
He noted that the two companies were very closely connected, having
common directors and management and operating a joint subsidiary company.
After the merger, he said, the ferry company would continue to
operate as at present, except that it would be a subsidiary of the wharf
company. Its operations would also continue to be governed by the Star
Ferry Company (Services) Ordinance.
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