Chapter 240 Fiery Confrontation

Author: Underwater Wild Fish

Chapter 240 Fiery Confrontation

HSBC.

"Mr. Shen Bi, this matter, on a smaller scale, is related to your and my years of operation in Hong Kong. On a larger scale, it is also related to the interests of all British people in Hong Kong, and even the interests of the British Empire." Niubijian was very formal. said.

"I am the chief executive of HSBC, not the governor of Hong Kong. I do not have the ability to take care of the interests of all British people." Shen Bi said calmly.

"But it also affects HSBC's interests, doesn't it? If Chen Zhiwen really becomes the largest financial group in Hong Kong, will HSBC still have the final say in Hong Kong's economy?" Niubijian said with a smile.

"At least HSBC will not be acquired." Faced with the deliberate provocation, Shen Bi remained unmoved.

"Today it is Jardine Matheson, and tomorrow it may be HSBC. Although HSBC is protected by law and no one can acquire HSBC, the law cannot protect HSBC's business, invested companies or overseas business. This The Chinese people are like hyenas to Hong Kong's high-quality assets." Niubijian said calmly: "Five years ago, Chen Zhiwen attacked Yonggao, three years ago against Heji, and privatized it on a large scale. Later, he also engaged in Tasmania Yingni, now it's Wharf again, Mr. Shen Bi, Mr. Diess, 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 their ability If it's not enough, if you have enough ability, you will definitely take action."

Shen Bi and Dis, who were sitting across from each other, both fell silent. Although they didn't like people from Yihe, they had to admit that what he said was indeed right. The British capital in Hong Kong were also fighting each other in the era when they were just rising. A balance will eventually be formed. Now that Chinese capital is on the rise, especially those with strong capital like Chen Zhiwen, they will definitely take heavy action against British capital. Otherwise, Hong Kong's interests would have been swallowed up by British capital. You can let Chen Zhiwen feel at ease in the future. To develop in the suburbs?

In the real estate industry, Chen Zhiwen will definitely start, and in the banking industry, it is also possible. Even if the world's wealthy families are not focused on the banking industry, many of them 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: "Niubijian, we understand what you mean, but Chen Zhiwen and Li Jiacheng are different. Last time I was 90% sure that Li Jiacheng would give me this face, but this time, I am 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 in recent times, their entire group has begun to slowly withdraw from the real estate market. Once Huangpu Garden is pre-sold in the second half of this year, all Hutchison Whampoa's liabilities can be paid off at once, and Chen Zhiwen's overseas assets are also very large, which you should also know very well."

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

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

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

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

"This" Niubijian fell silent. What Shen Bi said was indeed right. If Wharf was retained at the cost of increasing liabilities by one billion, Jardine Matheson Group would definitely be in greater trouble. Even if it did not go bankrupt, it would probably have a net loss of over a few years. All the profits have to be lost, and the greater possibility is that both parties burned money until the end. Jardine spent one billion Hong Kong dollars, but did not win, so it would be a collapse. He didn't know what happened to Jardine, but he had no idea. Jian must pack up and leave.

But giving up Wharf is obviously not feasible.

So he asked: "What do you think, Mr. Shen Bi?"

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

"The prerequisite for sitting down and talking is that at least both parties must make concessions. Chen Zhiwen has been planning for several years and has also acquired 37% of Wharf's shares. There is no way he will give up." Newbijian said with a frown.

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

"What? Central office building, this is impossible." Newbijian shook his head quickly and said. The dozen or so office buildings in Central are the core assets of the entire Jardine Department. They can earn two to three hundred million every year, and many of them rely on By collecting rent all year round and paying off the loan, the rent is both a profit and the Yihe Department's years of expansion, no matter what the loss is, it will be fine. The core of it is the existence of these huge wealth.

"You also said that it is impossible for Chen Zhiwen to withdraw voluntarily when he has reached this point. Unless you can persuade the Hong Kong Governor to come forward, otherwise, it is impossible without sufficient price." Shen Bixiao said.

"Office buildings in Central are not acceptable, but buildings or properties in Admiralty, Causeway Bay, and Pok Fu Lam are acceptable, as well as non-real estate businesses. We can discuss all of them." Newbikin thought for a while and said, as long as the foundation of Land is not changed, other All can be traded. After all, at this point, it is absolutely impossible to exit without any loss.

"Okay, then I'll send a message and ask Chen Zhiwen out as soon as possible. Otherwise, he is still publicly purchasing shares in the stock market. If he really acquires 49%, everything will be irreversible." Shen Bi nodded. Said. In fact, when it reaches 40%, there is basically no chance. As long as we find a few other shareholders, we can overthrow Jardine Matheson's control of Wharf at the shareholders' meeting.

"I have another idea," said Dis on the side.

"Mr. Diss, please speak." Newbikin was immediately interested. You must know that Diss is a profitable general manager. He has rich experience in Hong Kong's mergers and acquisitions, and he can also see the direct point of the same problem.

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

"Tell me about it." Shen Bi nodded. He still had great trust in this right-hand man.

Diess said: "The capital behind Chen Zhiwen is very strong, plus he now holds enough Wharf stocks. At this time, we can almost only rely on negotiation to solve this problem, but currently we do not have any advantage. If we talk about it this way, Chen Zhiwen definitely has the advantage, so we need to increase the cost for Chen Zhiwen to acquire Wharf stocks so that it is not so easy for him to succeed in the acquisition.

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

Although he has cooperated with Chen Zhiwen many times, this time HSBC is on the side of Jardine and Diss naturally chooses the right position.

"You mean, Jardine Matheson also paid a high price to acquire on the stock market?" Newbjian asked.

"No, we don't really need to spend money, we just need to release the news, and then HSBC can also release the news to let all shareholders know that we at HSBC support Jardine Matheson, then we don't need to spend a penny, and we can let countless shareholders know Crazy purchases of Wharf stocks drove up Chen Zhiwen's purchasing costs," Diess said.

"But such an operation cannot last long. If Chen Zhiwen cannot be made to agree to give up the acquisition of Wharf, then the acquisition must be carried out." Niubijian said with a frown.

"That's true, but there is no other way." Diess said: "Chen Zhiwen is currently buying Wharf stocks at 40 Hong Kong dollars per share. I have observed it before. Although there are not many people selling, Chen Zhiwen himself does not need it. We are acquiring a lot of stocks, so we must make a quick decision, ask him out, and then negotiate. It is best if we can succeed. If not, we will consider the next step.

By releasing this news, we will not only confuse stock investors, but also confuse Chen Zhiwen, who does not know our determination and may have a chance."

"Indeed, if you give the market hope first and make them think that Jardine will take action 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 break the news first, and then you and HSBC will do the same, so that the market can be stabilized." Niubijian nodded and said.

"Okay, then when Chen Zhiwen cannot acquire the stock, or has to pay a high price to acquire it, I will make an appointment with him. In this case, both parties can at least have an equal dialogue." Shen Bi said.

"That's the only way it can be." Niubijian suddenly felt that he was too cowardly as a Jardine Group talker. In the past, the Jardine Group looked down on the heroes in Hong Kong, and only a few companies such as HSBC and Swire could compete with him. Even so, the Keswick family has dominated Hong Kong for almost half a century.

Unexpectedly, as soon as it came into my hands, it would encounter 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. However, I still have no way to do it, and my funds are far inferior to the other party's.

Who allowed people like Chen Zhiwen to appear in Hong Kong?

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

Everyone in Hong Kong knows HSBC as the strongest bank in Hong Kong. Currently, in Hong Kong’s banking industry, HSBC ranks first, Hang Seng Bank second, and Standard Chartered Bank third. The second Hang Seng Bank is also controlled by HSBC.

Many financial reporters also immediately went to HSBC, but what surprised them was that HSBC executives, who were rarely seen in the past, or who ignored them even if they saw them, actually answered them proactively: Jardine is

For HSBC customers, HSBC will fully support its customers.

This is already the most obvious answer. All it takes is "HSBC will give Jardine a loan" written on his face.

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

Affected by this news, Wharf's stock price, which had been hovering around HK$40, shot up to 50+ within an hour. The seats specially prepared by Galaxy Group for acquiring retail stocks on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange were immediately empty. Occasionally,

How many people will come over and ask if you want the price of 60 Hong Kong dollars per share?

The seat of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is Hutchison Building. In order to pay attention to the acquisition of Wharf in the past few days, Chen Zhiwen came to the Hutchison Building to work. By the way, he could also learn about the recent operations of Hutchison Whampoa.

After learning the news, he immediately came down from the high-rise office. As soon as the elevator door opened, several reporters in the exchange immediately gathered around him when they saw the person coming. However, they were blocked by several bodyguards before they could reach him.

"Sheng Chen, will the purchase price of Wharf stocks increase in the future?"

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

Various questions were asked by different reporters, but Chen Zhiwen ignored them and walked to the VIP guest room on the second floor of the exchange. He glanced through the window and saw that the desks where many people were queuing up yesterday were basically empty now.

People.

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

"In the past two days, we have acquired almost 2% of the shares. Many people are still reluctant to take action. They are probably just waiting for Jardine to make a move. Now that we have waited, our acquisition will be even more difficult. Even if we increase the price, I am afraid that

There are still many people in a wait-and-see state," said Zhou Jiayang, who had been following him.

"In other words, we now have 39% of the stocks in hand?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, to be precise, it's 39.13%." 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 Wharf shareholders. As long as we can win over 11% of the shareholders and get them to support me at the shareholders' meeting, then I can also get Wharf."

control." Chen Zhiwen said calmly.

Looking around the world, there are probably only a handful of business cases that want to acquire half of the other company's shares at low prices. Jardine is not a fool, and Chen Zhiwen doesn't expect to be able to easily acquire 49.9% of the shares.

But if you want to gain control, you need to get the support of more than 50% of the shares, and you don't necessarily have to hold it yourself. As long as you convince some shareholders, that's enough.

Once you drive away Jardine Matheson Group at the shareholders' meeting and become the actual controller of Wharf, you can ask Wharf to increase your shares at a reasonable price to achieve absolute control of 49.9%.

Such an operation, both in terms of cost and efficiency, may be much better than that of Pao Yugang in later generations. Pao Yugang in later generations did not have this opportunity because his stock holdings were only 30% at most, while Jardines The group has very strong control over Wharf, and it is difficult for Pao Yugang to find 20% of shareholders to support him. After all, Bao Yugang has not run a real estate company before, and it is 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 have prepared a list of shareholders. They are all small shareholders. It may take some time to convince them." Zhou Jiayang said.

In the middle of last year, he had already begun investigating Wharf's shareholder information, but he could not expose the matter or contact them at that time.

At this moment, one of Zhou Jiayang's assistants ran over and said: "Hello, Mr. Chen, the secretary's office just received a call from HSBC. HSBC Chairman Shen Bi invited you to move to the office in two days." Drinking coffee in the hotel, but he also said that he was also accompanied by Newbigan from Jardine."
Chapter completed!