Hong Kong's new giants

With the assistance of Hong Kong Media, the two large-cap stocks of New Era Group and Hong Kong Telecom violently rose after the opening of the market, and drove the rise of the entire market.

When trading closed at noon that day, New Era Group rose by 5%, and its market value increased by 320 billion to 6720 billion; Hong Kong Telecom even soared by 8%, and its market value rose to 2350 billion.

Both stocks were 'suspended' after the afternoon open due to the unusual rise.

At the same time, due to the leak of the news, the New Era Group could only formally jump to the stage and start to form financial consultants - Barings Bank and Huaxia Bank International Department, and formally proposed the acquisition plan to the Dadong Telegraph Bureau.

In the previous three days, they had actually communicated with Huaxia Telecom, Li Guobao (the former chairman and current director of Hong Kong Telecom), and Huaxia Bank, and all three parties expressed their support for the acquisition by New Era Group.

……

At No. 78 Deep Water Bay, the three of Li's father and son came to the study.

Li Zekai couldn't wait to say: "Father just watched Lin Zuhui win Hong Kong Telecom again, and did nothing?"

After hearing that Hongkong Telecom intends to sell, he couldn't sit still, because he also wanted to become a "tech tycoon". Broadband internet service.

When Li Chaoren heard that Lin Zuhui planned to acquire Hong Kong Telecom, his first thought was not to join in, but that New Era already has local fixed-line and mobile phone licenses today; if they buy Hong Kong Telecom, their existing licenses should be invalidated, isn't it quite reasonable? to pay two considerations.

"Don't even think about it, we can't afford that much money!" Lin Chaoren said calmly.

In his heart, he also wanted to create a career for his youngest son, especially since his youngest son likes technology, but in fact, Lin Zuhui reacted in front of the Li family, so he could only lag behind others.

At this time, Li Zekai only had the dream of 'being a technology tycoon', so he gritted his teeth and said, "If my father participates in the acquisition of Hong Kong Telecom, I am willing to go back to work in the group!"

Li Chaoren looked at his son in surprise. This is his long-cherished wish for many years, that is, the elder son is in Changshi, the younger son is in Hutchison Whampoa, and he supports him behind the scenes.

After all, Li Chaoren saw that the three Guo Bingxiang brothers took care of Sun Hung Kai very well, so he naturally hoped that his two sons could unite together.

However, Li Chaoren said calmly: "The acquisition of Hong Kong Telecom requires 100 billion US dollars in cash. Now that Huaxia Bank has expressed support for New Times Group, the loan issue is a big problem. Moreover, if we jump out to make an offer , is bound to be disgusted by Hong Kong people, after all, New Times Group is now competing with overseas consortiums to prevent Heung Kong assets from being acquired by overseas consortia.”

Li Zekai was immediately disappointed and kept silent.

"Ze Kai, we must focus on the overall situation. Heung Kong Telecom is already seriously overvalued. Even if it is acquired, it will bring a great burden to the Cheung Kong Group. Moreover, Hutchison Telecom has developed well in the first place, and its assets overlap seriously. Of course, if you go back to work at Hutchison Whampoa, my father and I will support you very much."

Li Chaoren was very pleased with his elder son's style of work, and persuaded his younger son again: "Cyberport was preempted by Lin Zuhui; Hong Kong Telecom was preempted by him again. It has become very difficult for your Yingke to develop technology. Why don't you go back to Hutchison Whampoa and have any good plans, which can be realized by relying on large groups."

Li Zekai said stubbornly: "No! I don't believe it. He Lin Zuhui can do all kinds of industries. Yingke will find a shell to go public and develop the grand plan in my mind. I believe it will not be bad."

Li Chaoren was immediately disappointed. He is a traditional businessman. Although he supports his son in developing high-tech, but the high-tech without the strength to support it is nothing but spectacle and storytelling.

Chapter 654 [The battle of Xiangjiang Telecom is over]

Singapore Telecom and New Times Group to compete for "Hong Kong Telecom" is destined not to be a "fight between dragons and tigers". In a short period of time, New Times Group obtained 100 billion US dollars from Hua Xia Bank, HSBC, Barclays Bank, and Paris National Bank loan.

The collateral for this loan is the acquired 54% shares of Hong Kong Telecom. Of course, this fund also has a condition, that is, it can only be used to acquire Hong Kong Telecom.

On January 1, New Era Group proposed a very tempting plan: for every two shares of Hong Kong Telecom, one share of New Era Group could be exchanged, and $21 billion in cash would be spent; according to this plan, Hongkong Telecom The acquisition market value of 100 billion Hong Kong dollars.

This plan is very in line with the requirements of Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph, which is eager to sell Hong Kong Telecom for cash, and has increased the purchase price by 300 billion Hong Kong dollars.

At this point, Lin Zuhui, Yuan Tianfan and others were already in the mood of winning, waiting for the good news from the Dadong Telegraph Bureau.

Because Lin Zuhui believes that Singtel cannot afford this price, and even no consortium in the world can afford this price.

And Lin Zuhui must buy Hongkong Telecom, even if the price is high, because he is the boss of Xiangjiang, where foreign consortiums, even local consortiums are allowed to challenge his authority.

Fight for honor!

……

Singapore Telecom headquarters.

When Li Xianyang was in despair, he ushered in a ray of dawn.

"Mr. Murdoch, you are very welcome!"

It turned out that it was the media tycoon Murdoch who took the initiative to come to the door and asked for cooperation.

"Haha, Mr. Li, I'm also very happy to see you again!"

The two sat down on the sofa in Li Xianyang's office. Li Xianyang already felt that Murdoch's visit at this time must be for Hong Kong Telecom.

Sure enough, Murdoch quickly said: "Mr. Li, as far as I know, New Times Group has already quoted a sky-high price to Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph. How does Singtel respond to this?"

Li Xianyang said frankly: "We are helpless, because we cannot afford that price!"

As for the price, the Dadong Telegraph Bureau has already given a reminder, but there is no specific explanation.

Murdoch said seriously: "I am also very interested in participating in this acquisition. If Singtel is willing, I can provide US$10 billion in cash to purchase new shares issued by Singtel."

Li Xianyang's eyes are bright, because not only Singtel received 10 billion US dollars (expected to issue 4% new shares), but more importantly, Murdoch, a media tycoon, joined Singtel, which also made Singtel's stock more valuable. More 'imaginative'.

"Okay, we are willing to form an alliance, and we are very grateful to Mr. Murdoch for his help!"

"Haha, I am very happy to see Singtel beat New Times Group."

Murdoch laughed very sinister because he had a 'feud' with Lin Zuhui.

Back then, Lin Zuhui "led him into the game" Asia Satellite TV Group (Star Media), and joined forces with the Li family in Hong Kong to sell him 50% of the shares at a high price;ATV Group used his contacts and experience to open up satellite TV channels in many Asian countries, and then vigorously developed the "Hong Kong Stream Culture". The right to speak in is too great.

Afterwards, the two forces continued to have conflicts, but the ATV Group firmly suppressed the News Corporation by virtue of its "licence holding".Therefore, Murdoch has all the thoughts to cash out.

Originally hoped that Western culture would come to Asia to promote, but finally found that the development of "Hong Kong culture" in Asia has been achieved.

Therefore, the 'enmity' between the two sides ended in this way.

……

Over the weekend, news continued to spread back to Hong Kong, causing Hong Kong people to worry.

In order to improve the ability of cash acquisition, Singtel won the capital injection from Media King Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. News Corporation bought a 10% stake in Singtel with US$4 billion in cash. The two parties cooperated to develop Internet, TV and mobile phone businesses in Singapore. become more international.

With the chips worth US$10 billion and the backing of a stronger business after capital injection, Li Xianyang, the president of Singtel, flew to London and personally submitted a new acquisition plan to Dadong's board of directors in order to turn the tide.

The specific plan is unknown, but the variables have become larger.The increased cash ratio, coupled with the stable business of Singapore Telecom, and the news corporation's stake, will be very attractive to Dadong, which has always been conservative.

At the same time, the press release issued by News Corporation even made no secret of assisting Singtel in bidding for HKT's equity. Its high-profile action shows the determination to thwart New Era Group's victory.

It is said that the reason why Murdoch intervened was because he found out that the purchase of satellite TV was actually an "expensive product", and he was suppressed by the ATV Group all the time, so he has always been worried about it. This time he finally found a good opportunity to bring Lin Zuhui into the army .

On the other hand, SingTel spread a smoke screen, saying that it was preparing to file a lawsuit in the Hong Kong court, accusing HSBC Holdings, one of the syndicates, of contacting SingTel's confidential information on seeking a merger with Hong Kong Telecom while serving as a consultant for Hong Kong Telecom's independent directors. Loans for New Era Group, it believes that HSBC's practice violates the conflict of interest clause.

When listed companies are involved in major acquisitions and mergers, financial advisors are generally hired.In this acquisition battle, SingTel and New Times Group, as well as Hongkong Telecom's parent company Dadong Telegraph, have hired financial consultants, and Hongkong Telecom has hired additional financial consultants.

According to Hong Kong's takeover and merger rules: Since the takeover or merger involves the interests of shareholders, the board of directors has the right to hire independent financial advisors for the benefit of minority shareholders.In actual situations, the main responsibility of financial advisors is to bargain for clients and each other to strive for the best interests.The role of HSBC in the battle for HKT is to analyze the acquisition proposals of SingTel and New Era Group for the independent directors of HKT.

The purpose of Singtel's move is very clear, which is to sabotage the loan plan of New Times Group and catch them off guard.

New Times Group and SingTel are in an inextricable battle. In order to smash the rumors, the Hong Kong government and even the central government have stated that they will not intervene. After all, the telecommunications market in Hong Kong has been opened.The Hong Kong government has repeatedly stated that mergers and acquisitions are a purely commercial issue. As a Hong Kong government that pursues a "positive non-intervention policy," what it has to do is to protect the interests of all Hong Kong citizens.Fang Ansheng, Hong Kong's administrative secretary, said that the government has no opinion on which company should acquire Hong Kong Telecom. Its concern is to maintain fair competition in the entire scope of telecommunications services, and the relevant licensees can meet the licensing requirements, and the merger is not involved. any political factors.

……

Facing the provocation of SingTel, it is impossible for New Era Group to remain indifferent.

On January 1, New Era Group announced that it made a profit of HK$26 billion in overseas securities last year. After cashing out, overseas still holds high-quality securities worth about 460 billion.

This news seems to have nothing to do with this acquisition, but it has given Singtel a fatal blow.

New Times Group spread a message through the media: Once New Times Group resumes trading, the stock price will usher in a sharp rise again, and the stocks held by Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph Bureau will gain more value in the future.

It is equivalent to raising the purchase price in a disguised form.

On the same day, in the halls of major securities companies in Hong Kong, they all asked when New Times Group and Hong Kong Telecom would resume trading.

"New Era Group's cash is really endless. Last year it was 800 billion, and this year it's more than 1000 billion. If this kind of stock doesn't rise to a market value of 10000 trillion, it will be a shame for its rich assets."

"Yes, the company led by Lin Zuhui has the fastest development speed in the world. If you follow him to buy, you will make stable money."

……

The news reached London, and Yuri urgently convened a board meeting.

"At present, the quotations from both parties have come out, let's discuss the ownership of Hong Kong Telecom!"

All the directors have already laughed and talked, feeling very relaxed.

Director A said: "It's a very simple choice! New Times Group offers a higher price and pays more in cash. Naturally, we choose New Times Group."

Director B nodded and said: "The price offered by New Era Group itself is 100 billion higher, and now whether it is the cash payment amount or the long-term value of the other party's stock, New Era Group wins."

Director C couldn't wait to say: "That's right, we invested 100 billion US dollars in the Internet industry. After a while, we may be able to cash out another 100 billion US dollars of New Times Group stock in our hands. What a wonderful thing!"

"Ha ha"

Yuri also said very happily: "It's really a wonderful transaction. We have brought huge profits to the shareholders of Dadong Telegraph. Okay, now everyone officially votes."

……

On January 1, the "Hong Kong Telecom acquisition battle" that lasted for nearly a month finally came to fruition. The Dadong Telegraph Bureau announced that it would reach a formal agreement with New Times Group.

All of a sudden, the people of Hong Kong were jubilant.

Hong Kong Telecom Building.

On behalf of New Times Group, Lin Zuhui signed a formal transaction contract with Yuri, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dadong Telegraph Bureau.

After signing the name, Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "Thank you Dadong Telegraph for its contribution to Hong Kong's telecommunications industry for many years, and hope that we will have more cooperation in the future."

Yuri said with great satisfaction: "Mr. Lin is really straightforward in doing things, and I am also very eager to see the cooperation between Dadong and you."

For this deal, Lin Zuhui didn't think it was too expensive, but a loss.

New Times Group paid a price of 100 billion U.S. dollars, and 7% of the new shares, a price of almost 1300 billion Hong Kong dollars.But he had to spend the money, otherwise Hong Kong Telecom would have been controlled by Singaporean capital.

The Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph Bureau has indeed made a lot of money, but others have indeed made contributions to Heung Kong Telecom for 100 years. What is it to earn this little money!

As for whether New Era Group has bought expensive?

It depends on how New Times Group operates 'Hong Kong Telecom' and whether it will give Hong Kong Telecom 'imagination'.

……

The conference room of New Era Group.

Lin Zuhui convened a group of high-level executives to consider the prospects of Hong Kong Telecom.

He has been in business for so many years, and he has always been in a parallel style of acquisition + business reorganization.

If it is purchased at a high price and not fully developed, it will definitely lose money.

Hong Kong Telecom has 100 million mobile phone users, and [-]% of Hong Kong's fixed-line telephone network has a solid foundation; while Hong Kong and Singapore are competing for information markets other than Japan, which is why the new era must get it today.

"The new management of Xiangjiang Telecom, do you have any suggestions?" Lin Zuhui asked.

Since Heungkong Telecom wants to use the future of the battle, it is natural to have a leader with a global vision.

Yuan Tianfan immediately said: "I have a candidate for the CEO of Hongkong Telecom, the former director of the Telecommunications Administration, Avellon. He won't serve either."

Lin Zuhui said: "Well, please invite him to be the CEO for me!"

He naturally knew these people, so he agreed immediately.

Then, Lin Zuhui said: "The acquisition of Hong Kong Telecom by our New Times Group also caused some gossip. Tianfan, you should merge Times Telecom and Hong Kong Telecom as soon as possible."

If it is a general consortium, it will inevitably be criticized by the media and the government. After all, the New Era Group holds double 'licenses', which is equivalent to a monopoly.However, Lin Zuhui's status is detached, and this time is a war against Singapore capital, so naturally his voice is much less.

Therefore, as long as the two companies are merged as soon as possible, everything will not be a problem at that time.

"Ok!"

Lin Zuhui went on to say: "I didn't want to do broadband Internet service at first, but now that Hong Kong Telecom wants to go out of Hong Kong, it is bound to do this business."

Yuan Tianfan said: "We have great advantages in providing broad Internet services. After all, boss, you are both an Internet giant and a cable TV giant. The technology and content, coupled with Hong Kong Telecom's network, are a perfect match."

Lin Zuhui nodded and said: "The imagination here is very huge. We will discuss it later after the integration of Times Telecom."

SingTel failed to acquire Hong Kong Telecom, and most of the media and scholars believed that SingTel was a loser.However, Dr. Wang Kangmao, Department of Financial Accounting, National University of Singapore, believes that it is a wise decision for Singtel to withdraw from the acquisition for the following reasons:

320. The purchase price of US$[-] billion is too high. Hong Kong Telecom's traditional telephone business has declined in recent years, and the company's profits have also declined.The broadband business has just started, and broadband mainly targets the Chinese mainland market. Instead of spending huge sums of money to acquire Hong Kong Telecom, it is better to directly establish a strategic alliance with a broadband business company related to China.

[-]. In the past, the management of Hong Kong Telecom had made up their minds to cut costs and planned to cut the salaries of employees by [-]%, but it caused all employees to go on strike. The management of Hong Kong Telecom will be more difficult to implement. If personnel are assigned to handle or manage, local employees may oppose it. If local management is completely relied on, it may not be possible to ensure the interests of Singtel shareholders.

20. Due to the large amount of cash required for the acquisition, a considerable proportion needs to be exchanged for shares, but Singtel’s circulating funds only account for [-]%. If Dadong requires cash, Singtel will be even more difficult to bear.

9. Hong Kong Telecom has been opened up. There are [-] telecommunications companies. Hong Kong Telecom's monopoly has been lost. Dadong saw this before giving up.SingTel has strength and management experience, and will have many opportunities to enter China's telecommunications market with lower costs and methods.

Through the analysis of Dr. Wang Kangban, we can also partially understand the problem that New Times will face after acquiring HKT, that is, how to develop HKT to be more valuable.

Chapter 655 【Blitz】

As the Spring Festival approaches, Xiangjiang’s New Year flavor is getting stronger and stronger.

There will be a 'fireworks show' at Victoria Harbor on New Year's Eve, which will last nearly 30 minutes and will be broadcast live by ATV Group.