No matter at any time, opportunities always come to those who are prepared.
On September 15, 2008, Royal Fund announced the acquisition of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the third largest investment bank in the United States, defeating rival Bank of America and completing the acquisition worth US$50 billion.
After the acquisition is completed, Merrill Lynch will serve as a separate financial institution under the Royal Family Fund, providing a full range of retail brokerage and securities investment banking guidance services to the consortium, which is different from the original plan.
The reason lies in the insistence of Merrill Lynch Chairman John Thain. Since there was also the eyeing Bank of America, Wang Yaocheng decisively gave up the plan to merge with HSBC and chose to let it operate independently.
The two parties reached a consensus on this, which also paved the way for the final merger.
The reason why Royal Fund was able to defeat the Bank of America and eventually take over Merrill Lynch was because the options provided by Royal Fund were more attractive. In the eye of the financial crisis where cash is king, very few can take out 50 billion US dollars at a time.
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This obviously does not include Bank of America, which planned to complete the transaction through a share exchange, but was ultimately rejected.
September 16, 2008
The Royal Family Fund announced that it would invest $8 billion in Goldman Sachs, a move that further strengthened people's confidence in dealing with the financial crisis.
On the same day, HSBC announced that it had acquired Washington Mutual Bank for US$1.9 billion and assumed losses of up to US$77.5 billion, taking over the entirety of the largest mortgage bank in the United States.
In addition to these large-scale mergers and acquisitions in the open market, there have been hundreds of mergers and acquisitions of no more than 1 billion US dollars in consortium companies, and companies have taken action to make up for the deficiencies in their own industrial chains.
Using the company's own funds and HSBC loans, a whirlwind of mergers and acquisitions blew up in the world market.
In just 20 days, the Royal Family Fund once again spent more than 200 billion U.S. dollars, which greatly reduced the consortium's cash reserves to less than 100 billion U.S. dollars.
October 11
HSBC announced that it will acquire Wachovia Bank for US$31 billion to improve HSBC's layout in North America.
Viking Tower near Central Park in New York City
A large group of protest demonstrators, numbering in the thousands, holding placards, stood on the street in front of the building and shouted slogans.
Most of the people here are unemployed employees of Merrill Lynch Bank, and some are former employees of Washington Mutual Bank's New York branch. They are holding signs under the building asking for work and relief.
A dozen police cars below the building had their lights flashing, but they were only trying to maintain order and prevent the demonstrators from attacking. There was nothing else they could do.
This was already the second day. The owners of the Viking Building were very dissatisfied and believed that the crowd had affected their normal lives, so they gathered together to demand an explanation.
In the lobby on the first floor
He Chen is surrounded by more than 30 owners of Viking Building. Those who can live here are either rich or noble, and the worst are famous doctors who open independent clinics.
"OK, I understand everyone's demands very well. This is actually just a small problem and it is very simple to solve."
"We know King Boss has a lot of money, but all we need is a quiet life."
"We can't go out, our kids are stuck at home and can't go to school, and I can't go to my clinic. What are we going to do?"
"It's easy for you, but it's a big problem for us."
"Yeah, everything is terrible."
He Chen pressed down with his hand to stop everyone's chaotic speech, and said with a sincere expression: "Can everyone please be quiet and listen to me about the solution?"
"Okay, let me hear what you say."
"Just end this, damn it."
He Chen continued: "Knowing that there are lawyers, artists, government officials and navy chiefs here, this is a regrettable demonstration, and we attach great importance to it.
But the problem is:
Before we took over the above-mentioned enterprise, these personnel had signed a labor termination contract with the former bankrupt bank and received relevant N+3 economic compensation. Everything was in compliance with American law.
After we took over, the demands made by the unemployed people have gone beyond the scope of legal obligations, and we will never agree to this.
This is a matter of principle. The consortium has millions of employees all over the world. If they do this, the world will be in chaos.
Therefore, out of humanitarian considerations, the consortium will provide a certain degree of help, including counseling for reemployment, providing training or food relief. This is our official position.
Now looking back to solve the problem of Viking Tower, there are three specific plans:
1. We can provide free hotel accommodation for a period of no more than one week.
Second, if anyone is willing to move out of here, we can take it over at a reasonable price, specifically 15% higher than the market price.
Third, you can also participate in a Rhode Island vacation plan, and we will pay for it."
As soon as the words were finished, the owners started talking about it, and many of them were obviously unwilling to do so.
"It's a joke. Why should we move?"
"I have lived here for 30 years, but you are asking us to move because of your troubles. Why should we stay in a hotel? Do you think I care about it?"
"Otherwise you move out and this will all end."
The smile on He Chen's face gradually faded, and he responded coldly: "To put it bluntly, the consortium has tens of thousands of properties in New York, and there are dozens of buildings like the Viking Building, all over the upper city and
In Zhongcheng District, this asset is not in our eyes at all.
The problem is that the dignity of the chairman of the consortium does not allow for provocation, and he will not avoid conflicts.
All of you owners here hope to talk to us rationally, including Captain Anderson. If we write to the Navy Department and raise personal questions about you, your career may be greatly affected.
What I stand here is not to represent myself, but to represent the consortium that is in direct dialogue with the president of the United States and Wall Street. I hope you will think carefully before speaking and don't make nonsense here and make things unmanageable.
I firmly believe that you will never want to see this scene."
These words, both soft and hard, silenced most of the owners. These people knew that their weight was completely unable to compete with the owners living on the top floor, so they could only bring shame on themselves.
Colonel Anderson, who had been so emotional just now, also fell silent at this time. He knew that the other party was not talking about big words, but that he really had this ability.
After a moment of silence, the owners made their choices one after another:
"As long as I live here, similar troubles will appear one after another in the future. I have had enough. I also have a property in Xiacheng District, which I am willing to sell."
"George, do you choose to leave?"
"Yes, I'm afraid we can't let King Boss leave. Trouble is always there. I choose to end it all completely. And with compensation higher than the market price, I can buy another beautiful enough manor on the beach."
"Okay! Your choice is correct. I am also willing to sell the property here."
"Then count me in."
Soon most of the owners made a decision. He Chen happily snapped his fingers and said: "For the consortium, any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem. You can get the cash check now. As for the consortium,
Please feel free to leave when you want, you can leave for a month, but the premise is that you don’t bother us with these little things anymore, okay?”
After speaking, the building owners fell silent, as if they had suffered a 10,000-point critical hit.
The few remaining hesitant owners have now decisively made up their minds to move out, which is really shocking.
Looking out from the lobby on the first floor, there are still many reporters gathered at the gate, waiting for the first time to cover the news.
He Chen looked away and shook his head. After the global financial crisis broke out, Wall Street was not immune to the disaster, and large-scale layoffs were inevitable.
Citibank laid off 52,000 people, HSBC laid off 17,000 people, Goldman Sachs laid off 22,000 people, and Morgan Stanley laid off 61,000 people...
In New York alone, unemployed people held dozens of demonstrations to protest against Wall Street's financial games that had destroyed the American economy and their lives.
The Wang Group only suffered a disaster. Its mainstay role in the financial crisis has been publicly praised by President George and the Federal Reserve, and has also been praised by leaders of European and American countries.
Accordingly, the mergers and acquisitions of the Swiss ABB Group, Rio Tinto, Merrill Lynch, etc. were quickly approved by the antitrust authorities of various countries, which is simply unimaginable in normal times.
The Royal Family Fund's large-scale mergers and acquisitions have reduced the government's bailout burden in a disguised manner, and they are certainly optimistic about its success.
Just take the United States as an example:
The federal government's rescue of Fannie and Freddie caused an uproar among the people. Polls showed:
More than 60% of citizens strongly oppose the federal government's intervention to rescue the financial bugs on Wall Street. The taxes paid by American citizens should not be abused in this way, but should help those who are in greater need.
Public opinion was boiling, putting tremendous pressure on the federal government. Royal Family Fund's decisive action at this time undoubtedly solved a big problem.
But in view of the financial crisis that has spread throughout the world, this little money from the Royal Fund is nothing more than a drop in the bucket and is unsustainable.
People feel confused and disappointed about the future. The wealth they have worked hard for most of their lives has been wiped out in the financial crisis. Many retired elderly people have to go back to work to save themselves pension money.
This suppressed anger will pave the way for the subsequent large-scale Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.
What the consortium can do is to do everything possible to promote news reports and public opinion to interpret the consortium's M&A activities from a positive perspective and establish a positive image.
"What a waste of time!"
Wang Yaocheng stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the roof of the building, looking speechlessly at the dense crowd of demonstrators downstairs. It had only been two days since he flew to the east coast of the United States, and he was blocked here by the demonstrators.
You definitely can’t leave, you must face it head-on.
Otherwise, all kinds of weird interpretations will come out, some people will flee hastily in the face of the people's demands for justice, some black-hearted capitalists will try to avoid responding, and some employers will be unwilling to respond directly because they have evil intentions...
Speeches such as this cannot be eliminated at all, and may even incite racial sentiments, which will complicate the matter and make it more difficult to resolve.
These specific matters are naturally handled by relevant personnel, but as the big boss behind the scenes, Wang Yaocheng must sit here. He cannot go anywhere or do anything. He can only wait for the final resolution of the matter.