The Son of Finance of the Great Age

  Chapter 599 Hypocritical negotiation

   "Something's wrong, the other party's people attending the negotiation are not the ones that were notified before. What's going on?"

  In the conference room of the Shilla Hotel, when the Leimen Brothers entered, they found only five Koreans with different looks waiting there, but they did not match the profile pictures they had obtained before.

  After introducing each other, Mark Shafier knew that the other party was just a lower-level employee of the Korea Development Bank and Hana Finance, which made him very annoyed.

  Zhao Bingxi, a middle-aged man in his forties, is the deputy general manager of the credit department of the Korea Development Bank. This is the only person who can be called a senior employee. He is the core of the Korean negotiation team.

  Li Guangzheng, the 30-year-old deputy chief of the finance department of Hana Financial Group, a typical small character, with slender eyes with almost invisible pupils, high cheekbones and a short nose are the standard looks of Koreans. From Mark Shafier's point of view, this person's eyes have been flickering ever since the Leimen brothers entered the door, and he doesn't even have the courage to look at others. How can such a person make a decision?

The other two were small staff members. Although they held their heads high and pretended to be full of confidence, Mark Shafier could tell from their fluctuating chests that the other party was just trying to calm down. Otherwise, sweat would not stop dripping from his forehead.

   For such roles, Mark Shafir didn't even remember their names and positions.

  There was only the last woman, who served as the negotiating interpreter. Her name was Liu Donghee. Because of her delicate features and pretty face, Mark Shafier took a few more glances at her.

"It seems that the other party's sincerity is not very sufficient!" Mark Shafier sighed secretly in his heart, but after thinking about it, he became optimistic again, "Maybe their senior management is really busy, or these people are just testing the troops first. ? The Easterners are very good at the art of war, and I'm afraid it's their strategy now."

  Thinking of this, Mark Shafier couldn't help but look a lot better, and the confidence that had disappeared just now was restored.

  Mark Shafier is the head of the global mergers and acquisitions department of Lehman Brothers, a well-known banker. Accompanying him were M&A expert Brad Whiteman, Lehman Brothers global head Larry Wissenick and lawyer representative Tom Russo, basically gathering Lehman Brothers' elite negotiating team.

"Gentlemen, I believe you should know our Leihman Brothers Holding Company." After the greetings, Mark Shafier said straight to the point, "As an investment bank with a long history, we have business all over the world, including South Korea. As As the world's leading brokerage institution, we are well-known in IPO, wealth management, commodity investment and stock analysis. So investing in our company is definitely a wise choice."

  Mark Shafier has brokered countless M&A transactions, so he has a handy set of rhetoric in his opening remarks, but he may not have thought that he would have such a day to promote his company.

"We are very clear about the status of Leimen Brothers in the industry, and we also know the purpose of everyone coming to Seoul." Zhao Bingxi said expressionlessly, "Now let's discuss a plan that is acceptable to both parties. You should be very clear, we They are not the ones who can make decisions. But I can guarantee that whether it is your sincerity or what we want to discuss, it will be faithfully delivered to those who can make decisions.”

"In addition, I'm very sorry to say one more thing, because the presidents have very important things to do, so they can't participate in this negotiation in person." Zhao Bingxi's face showed guilt, and he stood up and gave Leimen Brothers a deep kiss. bow.

   "This is the transaction document we drafted, can you see if there is any problem?"

  Mark Shafier didn't feel very happy about the low profile of the South Korean side. This is just a unilateral courtesy of the Koreans and has nothing to do with the negotiation. He took out a stack of thick documents from his briefcase, handed it to the other party, and said calmly.

Since the full text of the document was written in English, Zhao Bingxi just glanced at it and pushed it to Liu Donghee, saying: "Mr. Mark, we need time to study this document, so it may take a little time. How about this, you Let’s talk about the general content of the document, we also need to estimate.”

"Okay!" Mark Shafier felt helpless, but he had to bite the bullet and said, "According to our previous estimate, Leimen Brothers Holdings plans to sell 100 million common shares and 20 million preferred shares. Among them, A discount of US$40 per share and a discount of US$50 per preferred share will raise a total of US$5 billion from you. This part of the shares will account for 20% of the total common stock capital of Leimen. The bank will have no more than a 25% controlling stake in Lehman Brothers and is expected to be the largest shareholder."

In Mark Shafier's view, this transaction is a very good deal. With only 5 billion US dollars, he can become the largest shareholder of a financial giant on Wall Street. If this kind of transaction was done half a year ago, it would basically be unimaginable.

But when the world changed, Mark Shafier didn't see the surprise in the eyes of the other party, but saw the shock on his face, and then he heard Zhao Bingxi asked in surprise: "$40, you didn't do it?" Wrong, Mr. Mark. The price is too high!"

"Very high?" Mark Shafier was confused, and looked back at Larry Wesenick and the others. Seeing the puzzled look in their eyes, he immediately asked, "This price is not high. Mr. Zhao. According to our previous price-earnings ratio, this price is only 12 times. Compared with those stocks with a price-earnings ratio of more than 15 times, this price is absolutely fair. And I know very well that the Korean government intends to reorganize the domestic financial market and enter the international market. The market. Now there is such an excellent opportunity in front of you!"

"But your stock price today has fallen below the $40 mark!" Zhao Bingxi was unmoved at all, "According to the purchase price of $40, we might as well go to the market to buy those stocks that are flowing, why bother to buy them?" So much effort to make a premium acquisition?"

   "According to this price, you can't buy such a large number of shares." Mark Shafier retorted calmly, and at the same time motioned several colleagues to take out their mobile phones to check the latest market situation of Raymond Brothers. This number was drawn up before they flew here, but it seems that the situation has changed a lot now.

   Soon, Wissenik handed the mobile phone in front of Mark. Although the screen of the BlackBerry was small, Mark Shafier could clearly see that the closing price this morning was $30.

  This means that if these shares are sold for $40, the other party will have to pay a premium of at least 33%. This is a figure that no one can agree to, because the range is too huge.

   At this moment, Mark Shafier's face became a little feverish. According to the latest quotation, it is possible for the other party to acquire so many shares in the market.

   "I don't think this document will be needed for the time being!"

  The corners of Zhao Bingxi's mouth rose slightly, and he pushed the document back again, "Sorry, Mr. Mark, you may need to draw up a new quotation document!"

After finishing speaking, without waiting for any reaction from the Leimen brothers, he stood up and said with a little apology: "We will not delay Mr. Mark and your colleagues. Before the new price is formulated , our doors are always open to you. Gentlemen,

  Sorry to excuse me! "

  Watching Zhao Bingxi swagger away with his people, Mark Shafier's face was so gloomy that it almost dripped water. He knew he had lost a city first. But when he thought that there was still room for salvation, his mood improved a bit.

"Damn it, I didn't expect the stock price to fall so badly!" Weisennik's face was not good-looking, "Those guys who are shorting are too reckless. We must reach an agreement to save the current company. We may have to sell more more shares."

"I can't decide this matter!" Mark Shafier slapped his head and said with some annoyance, "Contact the headquarters to see what changes will happen to the latest quotation, the transferred share capital and the amount of funds raised. This matter We must hurry up, otherwise the problem will be serious!"

  According to the current market value of Leimen Brothers, it is about 15 billion US dollars. Compared with the market value of US$30 billion at its peak, this has been cut in half. The most terrible thing is that the short-sellers spread the news every day, which made the market pessimistic about the prospects of Leimen Brothers. It also happens that Leimen Brothers is going to disclose the financial statements for the first quarter. If financing cannot be obtained in a timely manner, I am afraid that the prospect of Leimen Brothers will not be good.

   As the chief legal counsel, Tom Russo has not spoken. He is Dick Ford's confidant, but he doesn't know much about mergers. The reason why he was sent here was that Dick Foud wanted a supervisor. Seeing the appearance of Mark Shafier and others gearing up, Tom Russo was instantly full of confidence.

This confidence gave him the illusion of the whole deal, so that in the subsequent call to Dick Foud, he conveyed an extremely wrong message, "Dick, I think there is a 70% chance that this business can be negotiated." As a result, the South Korean side seems to have a greater appetite, and they are very likely to seek to control our company. But no matter what, as long as the Leimen Brothers continue to survive, everything will be hopeful."

  In the history of Raymond Brothers, they have had the experience of being acquired by other companies. However, after a group of Leimen people fought hard and bravely, the Leimen brothers regained their independent status. So if it is acquired by others or dominates the holding, these are not a problem, as long as the other party can spend real money at this time.

It's just that no one thought about what the final result would be like. They were still full of confidence that the deal could be concluded. After boosting their morale, Mark Shafier suddenly darkened his face and said distressedly: "Oops!" , something troublesome happened!"

   "What's the matter?" Hearing what he said, everyone was surprised and asked one after another.

Mark Shafier looked around, and when he saw the surprised expressions on the faces of all his colleagues, he smiled again, pretending to be surprised and said: "They didn't arrange lunch for us. Damn it, this is really A troublesome thing!"

   It turned out to be purely a prank! The hearts of the others immediately relaxed, and after rolling their eyes at Mark Shafier, they began to do their work in an orderly manner.

  When thinking about eating those pickles and bibimbap with a strong smell, Mark Shafier's face changed again. But he quickly put these thoughts behind him and began to seriously consider the next negotiation.

  …

   "$4, how is that possible?"

  After the Leimen Brothers closed, there was another heated discussion in Soros's small circle about their stock price. Among them, the newly joined Joseph Lewis raised the most doubts, and other people couldn't help but cover their ears.

"Of course it is possible!" Soros snorted coldly and said dissatisfiedly, "As long as we continue to suppress their stock prices and prevent them from raising funds, I believe no one will make a move. In the end, we can only repeat Bear Stearns' old path. !"

   "Also, free news for you guys, Raymond brothers went to South Korea, they want to get money from foreign investors, but I'm afraid it's not possible!"

   Thanks to book friend Huang Tianlong for voting for the monthly ticket! I finally found time to insist on writing a chapter. It’s really not easy. I hope that all new and old book friends can support this book on the basis of understanding the author. The book is disappointing, the author will do his best to update it~ Friends who like this book must vote for it~

  (end of this chapter)