Telstra has confirmed that it will fight a court action launched in the Cayman Islands by minority shareholders of Chinese car Web site Autohome, seeking to nullify Telstra’s sale of a 47.7 percent stake in Autohome to the Chinese Ping An insurance group.Telstra will retain a 6.5 per cent stake in Autohome

following the Ping An deal, and has pledged to return at least $1.5 billion

from the sale to shareholders.

Autohome’s chief executive James Qin is said to be among the minority

shareholders opposing the deal via a petition lodged with a Cayman Islands

court.  He heads a management consortium that had planned its own takeover

of Autohome.

Telstra yesterday confirmed the petition had been lodged and added simply:

“Telstra intends to contest the petition.”

In a controversial move earlier this month,Telstra added an extra member to the

board of Autohome, appointing a sixth director to ensure it could push through

a resolution that was a closing condition of its $1.36 billion stake sale to

Ping An. Autohome is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but is incorporated

in the Caymans.