Arthur Machen
Around 1890 Machen began to publish in literary magazines, writing stories influenced by the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, some of which used gothic or fantastic themes. This led to his first major success, "The Great God Pan". It was published in 1894 by John Lane in the noted Keynotes Series, which was part of the growing aesthetic movement of the time. Machen's story was widely denounced for its sexual and horrific content and consequently sold well, going into a second edition.
Great Wall Pan Asia Holdings
In November 1971, it was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was privatised by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 1987, and relisted in 1990.
In October 1993, Robert Kuok's Kerry Group acquired a 34.9% stake in the SCMP Group from Murdoch's News Corporation. His son, Kuok Khoon Ean, took over as chairman at the end of 1997. The Kerry Group bought a further 30% stake in the publisher for HK$1.1 billion ($142 million) in 2008. In March 2009, in a refinancing exercise, the controlling shareholder sold a 14.4% stake in the publisher to a consortium of banks in exchange for put call options exercisable within 4 years.