Next Media Ltd., the sensationalist Hong Kong publisher controlled by Jimmy Lai, agreed to sell its Taiwan print and broadcast businesses for NT$17.5 billion ($600 million) after a failure to win licenses triggered losses.

Next Media signed a memorandum of understanding to sell the operations to Jeffrey Koo Jr., according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange today. Koo is the eldest son of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. founder and chairman Jeffrey Koo Sr.

The sale marks the exit from Taiwan of the Hong Kong media mogul, known for criticizing the Chinese government, as business and political ties improve between the island and China. Lai's foray into Taiwan's television industry in 2010 led to two straight annual losses for Next Media as the company battled regulators for licenses and distribution rights.

"The TV business has been a real thorn because of regulatory obstacles and then a big barrier to distribution," said Vivek Couto, the Hong Kong-based executive director of Media Partners Asia, an industry consultancy. "Established modes of delivery were denied to Next."

Shares of Next Media have more than doubled since it announced plans to sell its Taiwan assets on Sept. 4. It last traded at HK$1.12 before a suspension on Oct. 16, and trading will resume tomorrow.

Apple Daily

Next Media will need to enter into formal agreements for the sale, with the targeted completion date in December, according to the statement. Koo has paid a refundable deposit of NT$1.75 billion.

Selling the assets will allow the company to focus on operations in Hong Kong, its biggest market, and the development of its digital content, Next Media said.

The sale includes its print business, which publishes the Taiwan Apple Daily and Next Magazine, for NT$16 billion. The television business will be sold for NT$1.5 billion, according to the statement.

"This land is your land, you have to keep fighting for it," Lai said Oct. 16 in bidding farewell to employees in Taipei. "I can't hold out here anymore. I tried and I failed." The sale excludes Next Media's office buildings and studio, which Koo will continue leasing if the contract is finalized, according to the statement. Lai retains ownership of Next Media Animation, which creates and supplies 3-D animated clips for its partners.

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Next Media on Oct. 3 signed a memorandum of understanding to sell the Taiwan TV business to Lien Tai-sheng, chairman of rival ERA TV, for NT$1.4 billion. The agreement was terminated Oct. 15, according to the statement today.

Taiwan accounted for about 43 percent of Next Media's sales for the year ended March 2012, its second-biggest market after Hong Kong. Losses at its Taiwan television and multimedia unit widened to HK$1.17 billion ($151 million) last fiscal year from HK$459 million a year earlier, according to its annual report.

Lai started the Taiwan version of Next magazine in 2001, followed by the Apple Daily, which became the largest newspaper on the island. The daily is known for celebrity gossip and graphic depictions of violent crimes and was fined NT$1 million in 2009 by the Taipei city government for publishing inappropriate content.

Taiwan's National Communications Commission in September 2010 rejected Next Media's application to offer a TV news channel. The regulator approved the company's application to start two channels for sports and movies.

Anti-Beijing Stance

"Taiwan's cable operators don't like him because his media business has caused coverage in Taiwan to be more sensational," said Alice Yang, a professor at the Cheung Kong School of Journalism and Communication at Shantou University.

Apple Daily and Next magazine are banned in mainland China because of their anti-Beijing political stance. Hong Kong's Apple Daily in 2003 published a full-page banner urging the resignation of the city's Beijing-backed former Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa.

In 2007, Lai said his company suffered advertising losses of about HK$200 million a year after some Hong Kong companies boycotted his publications.

Relations between Taiwan and China reached their warmest in more than six decades after Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May 2008. He focused on economic ties and dropped the pro-independence stance of his predecessor.