First Steamship to buy Eastern Home Shopping

Eastern Home Shopping (EHS), a leading home shopping network, has agreed to be purchased by First Steamship Co. for US$340 million, the United Evening News reported yesterday, citing authoritative figures in the deal.

The company has signed a letter of intent with Deutsche Bank, which represents Chen Heng-yi, president of First Steamship, the report said.

Lee Chuan-wei, spokesperson with EHS, declined to comment on the deal.

"We're still talking with the buyer," United quoted Lee as saying. "For any acquisition of over NT$10 billion in value, we can't make a formal announcement before the final amount and all details have been finalized."

EHS currently has five shopping channels, accounting for 70 percent of Taiwan's home shopping market. The company registered revenue of NT$26 billion and profit of approximately NT$1.3 billion, the report said.