TPK block called off after required filing not made

Global equity markets clearly remain difficult, but that was not why a sell-down in Taiwan’s TPK Holding was withdrawn on Friday, a little more than one hour after launch. Instead, the bookrunners were forced to cancel the sale after it emerged that the seller, a unit of German plastic components maker Balda, had not made the required filing with the Taiwanese stock exchange in time.

With a stake of about 16.1%, Balda is the largest shareholder and an insider in TPK, which is the main supplier of touch screens to Apple’s iPhones and iPads. Under Taiwanese regulations, a shareholder counts as an insider if it owns at least 10%,...