Sir Run Run Shaw, the centenarian founder and chairman of Television Broadcasts (TVB), on Tuesday became the latest victim of the global financial turmoil after talks to sell his stake in the Hong Kong broadcaster collapsed.

Yeung Kwok-Keung, chairman of Country Garden, the Chinese property developer, was forced to abandon a HK$10bn ($1.3bn) deal with Sir Run Run to take control of a 26 per cent stake in TVB, one of the world's leading Chinese language TV stations, after failing to raise the loan to finance the bid.

Mr Yeung agreed in May to buy Sir Run Run's 75 per cent stake in Shaw Brothers, whose main asset is the 26 per cent stake in TVB, after he was the only would-be bidder to meet all the criteria, which included financing the deal in cash, according to people close to Mr Yeung.

Shaw Brothers said that Shaw Holdings, its controlling shareholder which is wholly owned by Sir Run Run, had terminated all discussions related to a possible stake sale "due to the present tumultuous situation in the financial markets".

The sale of Shaw Brothers is at least the third Asian transaction called off in the last two weeks amid the global stock market crash. It highlights how difficult it now is to broker deals in the region, once a bright spot for mergers and acquisitions.

PCCW, the Hong Kong telecoms group, this week abandoned plans to sell a minority stake in a company that holds most of its core fixed-line, broadband and television assets. PCCW's failure came after Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment maker, last week shelved plans to sell control of a business unit to a foreign investor.

Mr Yeung failed to obtain a HK$7bn syndicated loan to finance the deal because of the tight credit environment and an 80 per cent plunge in the share price of Country Garden this year.

Mr Yeung had planned to use the 58.5 per cent stake in Country Garden owned by his daughter Yang Huiyan as collateral for the loan, said the people familiar with the deal. Lee Shau-kee, the billionaire chairman of Hong Kong's Henderson Land Development, had offered to lend Mr Yeung a further HK$3bn. The estimated fortune of Ms Yang has shrunk from US$17.5bn in 2007 to US$4.9bn this year, according to the Hurun Report, which ranks China's richest people.

TVB is by far the biggest terrestrial broadcaster in Hong Kong and has the world's largest library of Cantonese language content. It is one of the most popular broadcasters in southern China.