Taiwan's Ting Hsin to sell shares in Taipei 101

Taiwan's embattled food giant Ting Hsin International Group announced Saturday plans to sell its shares in the island's iconic Taipai 101 skyscraper to raise funds following a series of food safety scares.

Ting Hsin -- which has been implicated in three food safety scandals this year -- said it has signed a deal worth Tw$2.7 billion ringgit with the Malaysian IOI Properties Group Bhd to sell its 37.17 percent stake in the Taipei Financial Center Corp. that operates the landmark building.

The deal is pending the approval of Taiwanese authorities.

The proceeds from the deal with be used to fulfil the company's pledge to donate Tw$3 billion ($100 million) to a food safety fund and other charities, as well as paying off bank loan, company spokesman Chia Hsien-te told reporters.

Ting Hsin made the pledge after it triggered public outrage and an island-wide boycott of its products after it was implicated in three food safety scandals in Taiwan in less than one year.

In the latest case that surfaced in October, its unit Ting Hsin Oil was accused of selling oil intended for animal food, which is banned for human use, as regular lard and cooking oil causing hundreds of tonnes of products to be removed from shop shelves.

Ting Hsin owns the instant noodle brand Master Kong that is popular in Taiwan and China.

It previously ran leading Taiwanese food company Wei Chuan but was forced to withdraw from the board in the wake of the food scandals.

Wei Ying-chung, ex-chairman of Wei Chuan and two other Ting Hsin units, was slapped with nearly 140 fraud charges over his alleged role in the latest food safety scare and faces a 30 year jail term if convicted.

Wei, together with his three brothers, founded the Ting Hsin group and are worth an estimated $8.6 billion placing them second on Taiwan's rich list with investments in food, beverage, real estate and telecom sectors, according to Forbes magazine.

Ting Hsin was the second biggest stakeholder in Taipei 101, behind a 44 percent share jointly held by government-invested ventures.