Know your investors

摘要

Hong Kong-listed companies have a history of surprising their shareholders. Take the example of Boto International, a family-owned firm that had a steady, cash-generating, if unglamorous business making artificial Christmas trees - until the day it decided to take a leap into Hollywood film animation. David Webb, an independent governance activist, waged a battle to stop this radical overhaul of the business model but to no avail. The reinvented company, Imagi International has changed business directions many times since, and has suffered a string of losses in the past 14 years.