The Industrial Giant Reborn

HSBC.

"Mr. Shen Bi, this matter, to put it mildly, is related to your and my years of business operations in Hong Kong. To put it more bluntly, it is also related to the interests of all British people in Hong Kong, and even the interests of the British Empire." Niu Bijian was very formal Said.

"I'm the head of HSBC, not the governor of Hong Kong. I don't have the ability to take care of the interests of all British people." Shen Bi said lightly.

"But it also affects the interests of HSBC, doesn't it? If Chen Zhiwen really becomes the No. 1 consortium in Hong Kong, will HSBC still have the final say on Hong Kong's economy?" Niu Bijian said with a smile.

"At least I, HSBC, will not be acquired." Facing the deliberate aggressive approach, Shen Bi remained unmoved.

"Today is Jardine, and tomorrow it may be HSBC. Although HSBC is protected by law, no one can buy HSBC, but the business of HSBC, the company it invests in, or its overseas business cannot be protected by law. Chinese people are like hyenas to Hong Kong’s high-quality assets.” Newbi said calmly: “Five years ago, Chen Zhiwen made a move on Yonggao, and three years later he made a move on Dui Hutchison, and then privatized it on a large scale. Yingni, now it’s Wharf again, Mr. Shen Bi, Mr. Dees, what do you think they will do next? No one knows, we can’t expect them to let us go, the only possibility for them to let us go is ability If it’s not enough, if you have enough ability, then you will definitely attack.”

Shen Bi and Diss, who were sitting across from each other, fell silent. Although they didn't like people from Jardine, they had to admit that what he said was indeed true. In the era when Hong Kong's British capital was just rising, they were also fighting each other. In the end, a balance is formed, and now that the Chinese capital is rising, especially if there are people with such strong capital as Chen Zhiwen, they will definitely hit the British capital hard. Otherwise, the interests of Hong Kong have been swallowed up by the British capital. You can let Chen Zhiwen feel at ease in the future Go to the suburbs for development?

In the real estate industry, Chen Zhiwen will definitely start, and the banking industry is also possible. Even if the world's wealthy families do not focus on the banking industry, many will invest in different banks or acquire some small banks. It is really hard to say what the future will be like.

Shen Bi thought for a moment and said, "Niu Bijian, we also understand what you mean, but Chen Zhiwen is different from Li Jiacheng. Last time I was 90% sure that Li Jiacheng would give me this face, but this time, 30% sure None. Although Chen Zhiwen is also involved in the real estate industry, he is not absolutely dependent on HSBC or even banks in Hong Kong. Besides, you also know that recently, their entire group has gradually withdrawn from the real estate market. Once Whampoa Garden is pre-sold in the second half of this year, all Hutchison’s debts can be paid off at once, and Chen Zhiwen’s overseas assets are also very large, you should be very clear about this.”

"I know this. If it doesn't work for you to come forward, then I hope you can stand by my side, such as providing Jardine with a certain amount of low-interest loans, or deferred repayment. In short, I need at least 500 million Hong Kong dollars. To deal with Chen Zhiwen's hostile takeover." Niu Bijian nodded and said.

As one of the capital leaders in Hong Kong, Niu Bijian also has a very large network of contacts. It is not difficult to investigate the size of Chen Zhiwen's assets in the United States. After all, as Costco grows larger and larger, some ordinary People are beginning to know about this company, and it is impossible to completely hide it when the external assets are too large.

Facing such an enemy, Niu Bijian also had a headache, but the opponent put a knife on his neck, so he could only fight back.

"Just 500 million Hong Kong dollars may not be enough. Chen Zhiwen has already acquired 37% of Wharf's stock, which is basically the general trend. Even if you prepare 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, you will only fall into a tug-of-war. If you want a loan, I can give it to you, but If the consumption is too heavy, can the Jardine Group bear it?" Shen Bi asked.

"This..." Niu Bijian fell silent. What Shen Bi said was indeed correct. If Wharf was retained at the cost of increasing debts of one billion yuan, the Jardine Matheson Group would definitely get into even greater trouble. The profits have to be lost, and it is more likely that the two sides will burn money to the end. Jardine spent one billion Hong Kong dollars, but did not win, and it will collapse. Firmly determined to pack up and leave.

But abandoning Wharf is obviously not feasible.

So he asked, "Then Mr. Shen Bi, what do you think?"

"Since being tough is not enough, let's sit down and talk, and try to solve this problem through peaceful means." Shen Bi said, "I can come forward and ask Chen Zhiwen out, and then you can talk."

"The premise of sitting down and talking is that at least both parties have to make concessions. Chen Zhiwen has made plans for several years, and he has already acquired 37% of Wharf's shares. It is impossible for him to give up." Niu Bijian said with a frown.

"Not necessarily, as long as the price is high enough, for example, if Landmark offers an office building in Central in exchange, maybe Chen Zhiwen will agree." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"What? Central office buildings, this is impossible." Niu Bijian shook his head quickly and said, the dozen or so office buildings in Central are the core assets of the entire Jardine Department, and they can earn two to three hundred million every year. With the rent collected all the year round and the loan paid off, the rent is not only a profit, but the expansion of the Jardine Department for many years, no matter what the loss is, the most important thing is the existence of these huge wealth.

"You also said that it is impossible for Chen Zhiwen to withdraw voluntarily at this point, unless you can persuade the Governor of Hong Kong to come forward, otherwise, it is impossible without sufficient price." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Office buildings in Central are not acceptable, but buildings or properties in Admiralty, Causeway Bay, and Pok Fu Lam are acceptable, or non-real estate business is also acceptable." Niu Bijian said after thinking for a while, as long as the foundation of Landmark remains unchanged, others All can be traded, after all, at this point, it is absolutely impossible to withdraw without loss.

"Okay, then I'll send a message and ask Chen Zhiwen out as soon as possible. Otherwise, he is still buying shares in the stock market. If he really buys 49%, then everything will be powerless." Shen Bi nodded. Said. In fact, when it reaches 40%, there is basically nothing to do. Just find a few other shareholders to overthrow Jardine's control of Wharf at the general meeting of shareholders.

"I still have an idea." Diss said on the side.

"Mr. Diess, please tell me." Niubijian was immediately interested. You must know that Diss is the general manager of Dolly. He has rich experience in mergers and acquisitions in Hong Kong and can see the direct point of the same problem.

If Shen Bi is the strategic guide of HSBC, then Dies is the sharpest knife in HSBC's hands.

"Tell me about it." Shen Bi nodded. He still trusted this right-hand man very much.

Diess said: "The capital behind Chen Zhiwen is very strong. In addition, he now holds enough Wharf stocks. At this time, we can almost only rely on negotiations to solve this problem, but at present we have no advantage here. Talking about it like this, Chen Zhiwen has an absolute advantage, so we need to increase the cost of Chen Zhiwen's acquisition of Wharf stocks, so that it is not so easy for him to successfully acquire.

According to my speculation, although Chen Zhiwen is rich, he should have a big investment goal. If he spends too much money on Wharf, he will definitely not be happy. This is our opportunity. "

Although he has cooperated with Chen Zhiwen many times, but this time HSBC is on Jardine's side, and Diess naturally chose the right position.

"You mean, Jardine also paid a high price to buy it in the stock market?" New Bijian asked.

"No, we don't need to really spend money, we just need to release the news, and then HSBC can also release the news to let all shareholders know that we HSBC supports Jardine, so we don't need to spend a penny to let countless shareholders Crazy purchases of Wharf stocks have raised Chen Zhiwen's purchase costs." Diess said.

"But this kind of operation cannot be sustained. If Chen Zhiwen cannot agree to give up the acquisition of Wharf, then he must really end the acquisition." Niu Bijian said with a frown.

"That's right, but there is no other way." Diess said: "Chen Zhiwen is buying shares of Wharf at HK$40 a share. A lot of stocks have been acquired, so we have to make a quick decision, ask him out, and then negotiate. It is best if it succeeds. If it fails, we will consider the next step.

We release this news not only to confuse the shareholders, but also to confuse Chen Zhiwen. He doesn't know our determination, so there may be a chance. "

"Indeed, if you give the market hope first and make them think that Jardine Mathematics will also make a move in the future, then those who hold shares will definitely not sell their shares to Chen Zhiwen again." Shen Bi nodded and said, "Niubijian, what do you think? How about it?"

"Okay, then I'll go back and post the news first, and then you HSBC will do the same, so that the market can be stabilized." Niu Bijian nodded and said.

"Okay, when Chen Zhiwen can't buy stocks, or has to buy them at a high price, I'll ask him out again. In this way, the two sides can at least have an equal dialogue." Shen Bi said.

"It can only be like this." Niu Bijian suddenly felt that he was too useless as a Jardine talker. In the past, the Jardine Group looked down on the heroes of Hong Kong, and only a few companies such as HSBC and Swire could compete with him. To be fair, the Keswick family has dominated Hong Kong for almost half a century.

Unexpectedly, as soon as it was in my hands, it encountered the real estate crisis, the global oil crisis, and the company's overseas business suffered huge losses. Now even the core company Wharf has been forcibly acquired by outsiders.

Who made people like Chen Zhiwen appear in Hong Kong?

The next day, the Jardine Group announced in the Ta Kung Pao that Wharf is the core asset of the Jardine Group, and the Jardine Group will not give up its management rights. It also stated that the Jardine Group has received the full support of the strongest bank in Hong Kong. .

The strongest bank in Hong Kong is known by Hong Kong people as HSBC. At present, in the banking industry in Hong Kong, HSBC Bank is the first, Hang Seng Bank is the second, and Standard Chartered Bank is the third. The second Hang Seng Bank is also controlled by HSBC.

Many financial reporters also went to HSBC immediately, but what surprised them was that the high-level executives of HSBC, who were rarely seen in the past, or even ignored them even if they saw them, took the initiative to answer them: Jardine is HSBC's customers, HSBC will give full support to its customers.

This is already the most obvious answer, and it is short of writing the 8 words "HSBC will give Jardine a loan" on his face.

At this time, it was already in the afternoon, and it was too late to publish in the newspaper, only the next day, but so many investment funds or investors with a relationship could quickly receive all kinds of information.

Affected by this news, the stock price of Wharf, which had been hovering around HK$40, soared to 50+ within an hour. Galaxy Group’s seats on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange specially prepared for the acquisition of individual stocks were immediately vacant. How many people will come over and ask, do you want a share price of 60 Hong Kong dollars?

The location of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the Hutchison Building. In order to pay attention to the acquisition of Wharf these days, Chen Zhiwen came to the Hutchison Building to work. By the way, he can also learn about the recent operation of Hutchison.

When he heard the news, he immediately got down from the high-level office. The elevator door had just opened. When several reporters in the exchange saw the person coming, they immediately surrounded him, but they were blocked by several bodyguards before they could get there.

"Chen Sheng, will the purchase price of Wharf stock be increased?"

"Chen Sheng, after the acquisition of Wharf, what is the next development plan?"

Various questions were raised by different reporters, but Chen Zhiwen ignored them, walked to the VIP room on the second floor of the exchange, and glanced through the window. There were still many people queuing up for desks yesterday. people.

"How many shares have we acquired now?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"In the past two days, almost 2% of the shares have been acquired. Many people are still reluctant to sell. I guess they are waiting for Jardine's move. Now that we have waited, our acquisition will be even more difficult. Even if we raise the price, I am afraid There are still a lot of people on the sidelines." Zhou Jiayang, who was always by his side, said.

"That is to say, we now own 39% of the stock?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, 39.13% to be precise." Zhou Jiayang replied.

"Since the price is so high now, let's stop the acquisition first, and find a way to make friends with some of the current shareholders of Wharf. As long as we can win over 11% of shareholders and let them support me at the general meeting of shareholders, then I can also get Wharf control." Chen Zhiwen said calmly.

Looking at the world, it is estimated that there are very few business cases for buying half of the other company's shares at a low price. Jardine is not a fool, and Chen Zhiwen did not expect to be able to easily acquire 49.9% of the shares.

However, if you want to gain control, you need to obtain the support of more than 50% of the shares, and you don't necessarily have to hold it yourself. It is enough to convince some shareholders.

And once the Jardine Group is driven away at the general meeting of shareholders, and you become the actual controller of Wharf, then you can ask Wharf to increase its shares at a reasonable price to achieve 49.9% absolute control.

This kind of operation, whether in terms of cost or efficiency, may be much better than that of Bao Yugang in the later generation who took Jardine hard. The later Bao Yugang did not have this opportunity because his stock was only 30% at most, and Jardine The group has a very strong control over Wharf, and Bao Yugang had a hard time finding 20% ​​of shareholders to support him. After all, Bao Yugang had never run a real estate company before, and it was difficult to convince so many shareholders at the shareholders meeting To prove that he will have stronger real estate industry management capabilities than Jardine.

"Okay, I've prepared a list of shareholders. They are all small shareholders. It may take a while to convince them." Zhou Jiayang said.

In the middle of last year, he had already begun to investigate Wharf's shareholder information, but he could not expose this matter at that time, nor could he contact them.

At this moment, an assistant of Zhou Jiayang ran over from Xiaobao and said, "Hello, Mr. Chen, just now the board secretary's office received a call from HSBC Bank. The chairman of HSBC, Shen Bi, invited you to move to the Drinking coffee at the hotel, but he also said that he is also accompanied by Niu Bijian from Jardine."