Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 768 [Battle in Southeast Asia]

Thursday, November 7.

New Era Group headquarters.

Yuan Tianfan and Lin Wenjie came to Lin Zuhui's office hand in hand. There was a hint of surprise on their faces. Although they hid it, who was Lin Zuhui?

"What makes you two happy?"

After Yuan Tianfan sat down, he answered Lin Zuhui's question.

"Boss, the Dutch Heineken Beer Group proposed to acquire about 40% of the shares of Singapore Asia Pacific Brewery."

After speaking, he looked at Lin Zuhui's expression seriously.

Lin Wenjie was a little surprised. Uncle Yuan said it so simply, could his father know what the two of them meant?
Lin Zuhui's mind immediately started to run, he tapped his fingers on the desk, and said:
"Asia-Pacific Brewing is a joint venture company established by the Dutch Heineken Beer Group and Singapore's F&N Group. The equity of the two parties should be about the same."

Yuan Tianfan nodded, but didn't say anything else, he knew the boss was amazing.

Sure enough, Lin Zuhui went on to say:

"The performance of Frasers Group in recent years can be described as going downhill. The major shareholder behind it, GIC (Singapore National Investment Corporation), may have the intention to sell; if Frasers Group intends to release the equity of Asia Pacific Wine, it is even more evidence. Frasers Group is also for sale."

Lin Wenjie immediately admired his idol since he was a child, his father, who manages a lot of things every day, but he understands and analyzes these things so well.After he and Yuan Tianfan heard the news, they went to Singapore to investigate and came to the conclusion that New Era Group hoped to acquire F&N Group with a history of more than [-] years and get involved in Asia Pacific Brewing.

Yuan Tianfan was not surprised, and said: "We also thought about it. We think that New Times Group can participate in this acquisition and strengthen our business in Southeast Asia. We have prepared some materials for you to review." After finishing speaking, he motioned to Lin Wenjie .

Although the positions of the two are similar, it is obvious that Lin Wenjie can only be regarded as an apprentice, and he is still learning to handle group affairs with Yuan Tianfan.

Yuan Tianfan is a flexible core executive in the group. He has more rights in what fields are worth entering in the world and what companies are worth acquiring; while Chen Bin is equivalent to the group's big steward, steady and good at management.

Why is the president in charge of the inside and the vice president in charge of the outside? This is determined by the personalities of the two. What's more, Lin Zuhui believes that the New Era Group should be stable and not forget development, and development should not forget stability. Generally speaking, stability is the most important thing.

What's more, isn't there a bug in the development of Lin Zuhui, so Yuan Tianfan is equivalent to Lin Zuhui's assistant.

Lin Zuhui looked at it seriously after receiving the materials handed over by Lin Wenjie.

【More than 130 years ago, when the Irishman Fraser landed in the Lion City, from securities brokerage, to the beverage industry, to print media and brick factories, these businesses were later listed separately and became Fraser & Neave.The breadth of his coverage is simply astonishing.

At the same time, he also holds various social positions, such as the chairman of the Singapore club, the president of the Freemasonry, the founding member of the cricket club, the municipal senator, a justice of the peace, and various members of the SPCA, a typical energetic elite of the era.

Taking a closer look at the business started by Fraser, the beverage company is the exclusive agent of Coca-Cola in Southeast Asia, and later produced many well-known brands, such as: Singapore's first local beer Tiger Beer (Tiger Beer) and the world-renowned sports drink 100Plus.

Many of the milk, juices, and beverages that Singaporeans usually drink come from Frasers Group.

In the following 130 years, Frasers Group has become the sweet pastry of various giant consortiums. Singapore's national capital Temasek and GIC have also successively entered the Frasers Group.

In such a huge business empire as the F&N Group, real estate will sooner or later become an indispensable sector.The fastest way for large consortiums to get involved in new businesses is to acquire outstanding companies in this field.In 1987, Frasers Group teamed up with Goodman Fielder Wattie to take over a company called Cold Storage Holdings and obtained a direct ticket to enter the real estate business.

Cold Storage Limited, a company that started from food and beverages and printing, started its real estate business with The Center Point on Orchard Road as early as 1963.

In 1988, Frasers Group separated the real estate department of Cold Storage Limited and packaged it into Centrepoint Properties Limited (CPL), which was successfully listed on the Singapore Exchange.

With the high expectations of Frasers Group in the real estate field, CPL has been launched all the way after listing, rapidly expanding its industrial and commercial territory.

In 1992, CPL's first office project, Alexandra Point, was completed. Twenty years later, the building is still a landmark in the heart of Singapore.

CPL also acquired the former site of the Tiger Brewery from APBL at a price of SGD 8550 million, and established Block AB of Alexandra Technopark here in 1997, laying the foundation for Singapore's high-tech industrial park, where a large number of famous enterprises settled, such as , the office of Google's Asia Pacific headquarters is here.

The shopping mall business is also not behind. CPL opened a new shopping mall, Northpoint, in Singapore this year, and acquired Bridgepoint, a shopping mall in Sydney.After the opening of Northpoint in Yishun, it became the largest commercial center in the north of Singapore.

In 1994, CPL opened and began to manage its first residential project, The Anchorage apartment project.

After ten years of expansion, CPL was delisted from the SGX in 2000 and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Frasers Group.

Up to now, Frasers Property’s business in the world has been extremely diversified, but its core business can be classified into three major sectors: investment, construction and management of high-quality residences, serviced apartments and commercial real estate. 】

After putting down the materials, Lin Zuhui immediately became excited.

To sum up, the industries that F&N Group made him envious include: 8 large shopping centers, 5 commercial spaces, 36 residential projects, as well as Tiger Beer and other beers, Singapore's national beverage, printing and publishing, etc.

All are quality assets.

For a long time, Lin Zuhui's favor for Singapore is second only to Xiangjiang, because it is a country with Chinese as the main body. To put it bluntly, even if he immigrates to Singapore, he will not have any obstacles in his heart.Of course, the Xiangjiang base is more suitable for Lin Zuhui, and Singapore can only be used as a second base.

Therefore, the significance of this acquisition is very prominent.

"The two of you immediately formed an acquisition team, hired local financial advisors, and acquired the shares of Frasers Group and Asia Pacific Beer at the same time. Especially the shares of Frasers Group, you must quickly purchase them in the secondary market and seek to purchase them from other shareholders. Action Hurry up, there may be other competitors who are already doing it. Remember to be quick and accurate, the longer this type of acquisition war is dragged on, the higher the cost.”

Although we know that the world will fall into a 'financial crisis' around the end of the year, it is a good opportunity to lower prices.But in this battle, Lin Zuhui may face other consortiums in Southeast Asia, and there may be more than one.

The reason is actually very simple. If the Chinese consortiums from Thailand, Indonesia, and Malay win the F&N Group, it will be equivalent to jumping out of a country and radiating the entire Southeast Asia.

Yuan Tianfan immediately said: "Okay, I will take Wenjie to Singapore immediately and organize the acquisition."

Lin Zuhui nodded and said, "Take my private jet!"

The two left Lin Zuhui's office with high spirits. The acquisition battle will be worth tens of billions of dollars.

Lin Zuhui tapped on the table while thinking:
The acquisition of F&N Group is facing a Southeast Asian consortium;

Acquisition of Asia Pacific Brewing, facing the Dutch Heineken beer.

Heineken of the Netherlands holds about 41.9% of the shares of Asia Pacific Brewery, which is similar to the shares held by F&N Group. The important thing is that Asia Pacific Brewery is related to the secret of Heineken Beer.

This group was jointly invested and established by F&N Group and Heineken Group in 1931. It has 14 breweries and 30 brands in 40 countries. Heineken Beer and another well-known Tiger Beer (Tiger) are produced by it. .

That is to say, the acquisition of Asia-Pacific Brewing, you know the technology of Heineken beer.Heineken is the third in the world, and Times & Newcastle Beer Group is the fifth in the world.

It can be regarded as a hostile acquisition of Asia Pacific Brewing. This time, New Times Group is going to be a hungry wolf. Heineken only holds 40% of the shares, which gives others an opportunity to take advantage of.

Of course, Lin Zuhui can also accept that Asia-Pacific Brewery is separated, and he must at least obtain Tiger Beer and production technology, as well as non-Heineken Beer Group brands.

"dong dong"

"Come in"

Liang Zhenxun came to the office and said, "Boss, you are looking for me."

Lin Zuhui nodded, told the story of F&N Group, and then asked, "How much cash flow does the group have?"

Liang Zhenxun said happily: "The cash flow of the group is 4520 billion Hong Kong dollars, which is very sufficient!"

He is happy because the boss is expanding the company again and has found a way out for the funds.

In the past few years, New Times Group has distributed dividends of 400 to 500 billion Hong Kong dollars every year, once in the first half of the year and once in the second half of the year; but the more dividends are paid, the more difficult it is for the stock price to rise. After the financial crisis, it has not been able to break through 1.3 trillion, and The 1.6 trillion at the peak is far behind.

"Well, I see."

After the Lehman crisis, New Era Group bought the bottom of European and American bonds, using 40 to 50 US dollars to buy bonds worth 100 US dollars. With the end of the financial crisis, New Era Group soon made a huge profit of more than 300 billion.And this time, buying European and American bonds at the bottom, united a number of chaebols in Hong Kong, and everyone made a total of nearly 1000 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Of course, more than 300 billion Hong Kong dollars is the profit of the first quarter for New Era Group.Even in 2009, the first year after the financial crisis, the profit of New Era Group reached 700 billion Hong Kong dollars, which shows its strong strength.

Lin Zuhui also found a problem. After the financial crisis, although the shipping industry plummeted, it did not fall to the bottom, but a state of gradual decline.

It is estimated that 2013~2016 will be the bottom, 2017 will be the recovery, and 2020 will start to explode.

In mid-July, New Era Group suddenly announced in Singapore that it had reached an agreement with some shareholders to acquire 7% of the shares of F&N Group and 22% of the shares of Asia Pacific Brewery.

For a time, public opinion was shocked.

If New Times Group gets the Asia Pacific Brewery, it means that the trade secrets of Heineken and Tiger Beer will fall into the hands of 'Time & Newcastle Beer Group'.

Originally, in early July, Heineken Group hoped to invest more than 40 billion US dollars to acquire about 40% of the shares of Asia Pacific Wine under the name of F&N Group.Now, things get complicated.

When Heineken was in a dilemma, New Era Group raised the purchase price again, hoping to acquire the equity of Asia Pacific Brewery, making it even more difficult for Heineken to ride a tiger.

Joe Brown, president of the Dutch Heineken Group, urgently called a high-level meeting.

"Everyone, the Times & Newcastle Beer Group under the New Times Group is the fifth largest beer group in the world. Once they take over Asia Pacific Brewing, they will not only get Tiger Beer, but also the trade secrets of our Heineken beer. So, everyone Come up with an idea!"

A senior executive immediately said: "New Times Group is the richest company in the world, and its financial strength is strong. In addition, Lin Zuhui, the world's richest man, has always been bound to win the acquisition. If we fall into a bidding war, let's not talk about winning or losing. Even the price, we may not be able to accept it.”

The name of a person, the shadow of a tree, Lin Zuhui is a proper "big rich customer" in the western business world, and the acquisition has never failed except ZZ interference.

Of course, Lin Zuhui seems to be buying at a high price every time, but after his financial skills and superb management, the value of the acquired company quickly soars.

Even for the Hilton Hotel Group, the premium was 40% that year, and after more than ten years of development, Barings Bank has made a book profit of 120 billion U.S. dollars, while the principal is only 40 billion.

"That's right. The New Era Group has shown its determination to acquire the Asia-Pacific Brewery. If we bid for it, the price may soon exceed US$50 billion. What should we do then?"

For a while, everyone fell into distress.

"Is it possible for New Era Group to give up the acquisition of Asia Pacific Brewery? After all, they are still acquiring F&N Group, and the funds may be under great pressure, right?"

"No, New Era Group's cash flow ranks among the highest in the world. It is said that it has 500 billion US dollars. The important thing is that their debt is extremely low."

There was silence again.

Suddenly, someone said: "Is it possible to carve up the Asia Pacific Brewery. I think 'Times & Newcastle Beer Group' may want Tiger Beer and other Asian brands, rather than really wanting this brewery. If it is possible , we can reach an agreement that we will first win the Asia Pacific Brewery, and then sell Tiger and other brands to 'Times & Newcastle Beer Group' for a spin-off. In this way, we will keep the trade secrets of Heineken beer .”

This is a very realistic solution.

But all the high-level executives of Heineken Beer showed their reluctance, as if they were cutting flesh.

There was silence again.

At the end of the meeting, Joe Brown gritted his teeth and decided: "I will go to Singapore in person to meet them and hope to reach a good agreement!"

Su Xuming is the boss of 'ThaiBev' and 'TCC Assets', and is also a member of 'F&N Group and Asia Pacific Breweries' who are eyeing this time.

After he heard the announcement of New Era Group, he couldn't help but slapped his thigh.

"I missed a good opportunity, I was just one step too late!"

Su Xuming couldn't help being annoyed. It turned out that Thailand had restricted his business development, and he was eager to go out into a wider world.He was also planning to act this time, but he didn't expect it to be a step too late. The 22% stake in Frasers Group and the 8.6% stake in Asia Pacific Brewing in the hands of Singapore Overseas-Chinese Banking just missed it.

"Boss, this New Era Group is not easy to mess with! Even if we get 22% of the shares, we may not be able to win the world's richest man." The executive reminded.

Su Xuming naturally refused to show weakness, and said: "Who said that this is in Southeast Asia, not Xiangjiang, the mainland, nor Europe and the United States, it is our territory. Since the New Times Group has already taken the lead, I want to join the acquisition of the F&N Group. Immediately We went to buy shares in Frasers Group and contact shareholders who are willing to sell."

The executive had no choice but to say, "Okay, I'll arrange it right away!"

Su Xuming was worried, and said: "This time I will sit in charge personally. New Times Group only holds 22% of F&N Group's shares, which is far from 50%. Moreover, they are also caught in a competition with Heineken Group. Front-line operations are bound to affect them."

On the other hand, the consortium led by the Indonesian Hualian Group is also eager to try, and has its eyes on the fat of the F&N Group.

All of a sudden, all parties appeared on stage one after another.

(End of this chapter)