Hong Kong – Lawyers for PCCW Ltd. defended a $2.1 billion buyout led by chairman Richard Li at a court hearing on April 1, saying regulators lacked evidence of wrongdoing that could overturn a contested February shareholder meeting that approved the deal. They also said officials with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) lacked evidence to show that the company’s former deputy chairman, Francis Yuen, played any improper role in the vote. Hong Kong’s High Court is considering whether to approve a buyout blessed by shareholders at a February meeting but challenged by SFC which said shares were improperly handed out to investors and as such, should not be counted toward the vote total. The hearing follows an SFC investigation involving insurance agents who registered as shareholders in the days leading up to the meeting. According to the SFC, an unusual number of PCCW share registrations by insurance agents at Fortis Insurance Co. (Asia) Ltd. took place in the days before the February vote. Li is leading a group that would buy out the 52 percent of the Hong Kong telecom company that it doesn’t already own for HK$4.50 (US58 cents) a share – a 55 percent premium from when the time the offer was first made in October but below PCCW’s HK$100 a share level of nine years ago.