In order to tie the Singaporean consortium to their side, Wooden Swire and others have given up a lot of interests in the hope that these companies can work with them to resist the attack of the Lee consortium in the future. Now they are really under pressure.
Too big.
Just after they won over several major families in Singapore in the morning, the news from the Xiangjiang government in the afternoon dealt them a severe blow again. Especially for Wooden Swire and Shen Bi, this news was quite unfavorable to them.
Just this afternoon, the Lee Group's application for establishing an airline was approved by the Hong Kong government. The Lee Group can now officially establish their own airline in Hong Kong. Moreover, this time the Lee Group has also received approval from the Hong Kong government, including Tokyo and Taipei.
, Singapore, Bangkok, London, Los Angeles, Sydney and other 16 routes.
You must know that Cathay Pacific currently has no routes to Los Angeles and London, and the Lee Group's airlines have not yet appeared, but they have received so much shipping. This has caused Cathay Pacific to suffer a huge blow. Although their airline has not been listed
But today's market value has immediately dropped by two or three levels, and their monopoly has been broken.
The news that Lee Group Airlines was approved has excited countless Xiangjiang citizens. They hope that Lee Group can quickly complete the establishment of the company and arrange takeoffs as soon as possible, so that they no longer have to endure the poor service of Cathay Pacific.
They have great confidence in the Lee Group's airlines. They believe that the Lee Group established the airline to serve them. This is the reputation that the Lee Group has built up through the excellent services provided by Kowloon Bus and Heung Kong Telephone Group over the past few years.
Shen Bi sighed helplessly in his office. His previous policy was very good, wooing Chinese-owned families and consolidating HSBC's position in Hong Kong. He did well in the early stage, but the rapid rise of the Li Group made him feel
threatened.
Especially when the Li Group was about to enter the banking industry, Shen Bi would suppress it like that. Because he knew very well that once the Li Group established a bank, it would be his biggest opponent. Chinese families would choose his side, and they would
All these years of hard work will be in vain, but it's a pity that it still can't stop him from entering.
When Li Guangyu asked him to acquire Cathay Pacific, Shen Bi knew that there would be results like today, but he didn't expect that it would come so quickly and so violently. In this acquisition, not only did Swire Holdings occupy nearly one-third of the company, the Li Group
One share of Wheelock was swallowed up by Li Guangyu, and the British consortium suffered extremely heavy losses.
He didn't know how long Yihe and Taikoo could last. Once they fell, it would be his and Standard Chartered's turn. Now there is no other consortium or family in Hong Kong that can stop the rise of the Li Consortium.
Shen Bi sometimes wonders whether HSBC would be in a better situation now if he had not suppressed the Li Group at that time. Perhaps HSBC and the Li Group still cooperate in many aspects.
Shen Bi is still considering the issue of his 30% stake in Cathay Pacific Airways. He knows that the sooner he sells it, the better. Once the Lee Consortium Airlines is established, the value of Cathay Pacific Airways shares will become even lower.
Sometimes he doesn't understand Li Guangyu's thoughts. Li Guangyu is a person who attaches great importance to profits. Just look at many of his groups. But only in the Xiangjiang Public Service Enterprise, he doesn't seem to care about the profits.
In recent years, Kowloon Bus's profit for the Lee Group did not exceed HK$100 million. You must know that if Li Guangyu had invested HK$400 million in other enterprises at that time, it would be easy to double or triple the profit.
The Heung Kong Telephone Group was even more ruthless. Not only did it not make any money, the Li Group also invested hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars in it. This is quite unusual in Hong Kong at present, but the Li Group is welcomed by countless citizens of Hong Kong.
Shen Bi is sure that once the Li Group enters the airline industry, the price of air tickets in Hong Kong will be reduced by at least two levels. Cathay Pacific will not be able to compete with the Li Group unless Cathay Pacific also adopts such low profits, but it is a bank. , how to explain to customers if the investment is not profitable.
Wooden Swire made a call to the London family at six o'clock in the evening to report on Li Guangyu's establishment of an airline and asked himself how to do it.
The family's opinion is to let him decide based on the situation. If he feels that the airline is not good, then sell the airline at the current high price. They don't want to run an unprofitable operation like the Li Group.
In terms of public service enterprises in Xiangjiang, other family consortiums do not want to enter any industry that Li Guangyu enters. It is too difficult to enter. The Li Group adopts a low profit margin. The Xiangjiang government stipulates a 15% profit line. The Li Group and other It would be good if the company had 5%, but they don't have that much money to play with the Li Group.
The British-funded consortium wanted to sell its airline, and a group of people became restless after learning that the Lee Consortium had obtained the airline's license.
In Huo Yingdong's mansion at night, Huo Yingdong, Hu Yingxiang, and Cao Guangbiao were discussing some of today's news.
Hu Yingxiang said: "Li Guangyu's counterattack this time is really sharp. Some time ago, the Lee Group was jointly suppressed by the British-funded consortium and the Singaporean consortium. It can be said that it was suppressed everywhere. Some English media even began to badmouth the Lee Group. This time it is Slap them hard in the face."
Huo Yingdong was also very happy about this. The less influence of the British-funded consortium in Hong Kong, the better. This would also be more beneficial to the mainland in taking back Hong Kong.
Cao Guangbiao said: "Yingdong, this time I came to you and Ying Xiang mainly to discuss the issue of airlines. This time Li Guangyu Airlines has been approved, can we also establish an airline and develop our main industries to the mainland? Promote exchanges between our Hong Kong and mainland China."
Cao Guangbiao's idea is good, but it is almost impossible to realize it at present. Not only that the airlines themselves and others cannot apply, but also the route issue cannot be solved. Doesn't Li Guangyu know the mainland market? But why did he get a mainland market this time? There were no routes, and the British government would never allow him to open routes to the mainland.
Huo Yingdong said: "Guang Biao, I know some of your ideas, but we can't do it in today's environment. Look at how much noise Li Guangyu made for this airline. In the end, the Xiangjiang government allowed him to open 16 Mainland China is directly excluded from city routes, and these 16 cities still need to be communicated one by one by the Li Group. We don’t know when it will be completed. I’m afraid it will be more difficult for us to establish our own airlines.”
After hearing this, Hu Yingxiang and Cao Guangbiao were a little disappointed, but Cao Guangbiao did not give up. He said: "Since the Xiangjiang government can agree to Li Guangyu's establishment of an airline, it means that the Chinese family still has a chance. I will also apply this time to give it a try." .”
When Huo Yingdong saw that Cao Guangbiao was determined to have a collision, he couldn't stop him. He really thought that the Xiangjiang government could be so easy to talk to. They didn't know some news about London. Huo Yingdong knew very well about the Li Group there through some channels.
action.
The fighting on the Xiangjiang side was no less lively than on the London side, but the news there was suppressed. The Xiangjiang side did not report much on the other side.