Hengyu Supermarket Group had just announced a 35% discount sale, and Henry Keswick received a report from company personnel.
Henry Keswick knew very well that Jardine must follow up now, otherwise Wellcome's market would be completely squeezed by Hengyu Supermarket.
Henry Keswick said to the chairman of Wellcome Supermarket: "You continue to follow the Hengyu Supermarket Group. At this time, we will see who can persist longer. Now you don't have to consider profitability. Wellcome Supermarket As long as we can protect our capital, that’s fine.”
The person in charge said: "I will follow your instructions."
Henry Keswick immediately contacted Shen Bi and George Lavin after the head of Wellcome left. He now needed the support of these two gods of wealth.
In the past, part of Wellcome Supermarket's profits would be used by the group for the turnover of the group's funds. Now let alone providing it to the group, it would be fine if the group did not provide funds to Wellcome Supermarket. He himself did not know whether the Li Group would He will hurt others with his own abilities, which will put considerable pressure on them.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Henry Keswick and the others still came to the private room of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel owned by Jardine Matheson to discuss how to deal with the attack by the Lee Group.
Since HSBC and Standard Chartered were involved, Henry Keswick couldn't go to one of the banks, so he could only invite these two people to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Henry Keswick said: "Shen Bi, Lavin, now we at Jardine are in urgent need of your financial support. This time the Li Group obviously wants to defeat us at Wellcome."
Shen Bi and George Lavin are also paying close attention to the actions of the Li Group, especially Hengyu Supermarket Group, which is the pioneer this time. They know that once Jardine cannot withstand the pressure and retreats from the Xiangjiang market, then what will happen next It could be that they are facing each other head-on with the Li Group.
Shen Bi said: "Keswick, where is the bottom line of your Yihe? We are also paying attention to the actions of the Li Group this time. You just kept up with their discounts, and they immediately continued to sell at more favorable prices. We are all paying attention." I don’t know where Li Guangyu’s bottom line is.”
Henry Keswick is also a little worried about this. Hengyu Supermarket Group is owned by Li Guangyu alone. He does not need to be responsible to anyone. Even if he loses money, no one will hold him accountable. But he himself cannot do it. Once he loses money, he will not be held accountable. , there will definitely be many shareholders who are dissatisfied with this. If you insist on going your own way, it is very likely that those small shareholders will choose to transfer their shares.
Henry Keswick said: "We at Jardine will only decide after looking at the actions of the Li's Consortium. We have initially set it at a range of 30% off. This price can only protect our capital. I believe that the Li's Consortium and us will The situation here is similar, let’s see if Li Guangyu will sell at a loss this time.”
What Shen Bi and George Lavin are most worried about is this situation. The Li Consortium is supported by the profits of major groups. As long as Li Guangyu is willing, Hengyu Supermarket dares to sell it at half price.
Even if it is a capital-guaranteed operation, the Jardine Group cannot afford it. Shen Bi is not optimistic about the future of Wellcome Supermarket. However, now that the British consortium is in the industrial field, only Jardine can still resist the Li Group. Once Jardine is no longer around, they will It will be quite difficult for the two banks to face Li's consortium alone.
George Lavin said: "Keswick, can you convince the major shareholders of your group to support your decision on this matter? Otherwise, even if our two banks provide financial support, your group will not be willing to let it go." It’s useless for Wellcome and the Lee Consortium to fight against each other.”
George Lavin did not want the loan given to them by his bank to be used elsewhere and ignore Wellcome. He himself also did not want the funds provided by Standard Chartered to Jardine to be used for Jardine Land and Xiangjiang. The current situation in real estate is a bit delicate.
Henry Keswick himself could not guarantee that these shareholders would be willing to continue playing with Li Guangyu like this, but he had to persist, otherwise their Jardine properties would only be slowly eaten up one by one by the Li consortium.
He said to these two people: "I will try my best to convince the major shareholders. If necessary, I will separate Huikang Supermarket from Jardine Matheson. We plan to resist the competition from Hengyu Supermarket for at least the first three months. These three If there is no profit or even loss every month, I don’t think Li Guangyu will continue like this. You must know that he is also a businessman and he will not do things that harm himself and benefit others."
Shen Bi and George Lavin knew Henry Keswick's plan as soon as they heard it. This man was preparing to withstand a wave of attacks from the Li Consortium, and then sit down with the Li Consortium to negotiate peace and cancel such a price war. .
At that time, it is estimated that the losses suffered by the Li Group were not small. Maybe the price war between the two parties could really be stopped, and Jardine could maintain their market share in this area.
As for looking for Li Guangyu now, it is useless. The Li Group needs such actions to seize the market. They have absolutely no intention of negotiating at this time.
The price war between several major supermarkets will cause the collapse of countless small and medium-sized supermarkets. This part of the market will be occupied by Wellcome, Hengyu and Watsons. By then, I will stabilize the passenger flow of the Lee Group, and there will be peace talks. the basis of.
You must know that Hengyu Supermarket can make money, but Watsons cannot. There are many shareholders there, and it is not just Li Ka-shing and Li Guangyu who can make the final decision.
Shen Bi and George Lavin strongly agree with Henry Keswick's plan. Three months is neither long nor short, and Jardine can bear it. Moreover, the small and medium-sized supermarkets are probably closed in this short period of time. , the vacancies in those markets are enough to satisfy the entry of the Li Group.
Shen Bi said: "Keswick, we at HSBC are willing to provide you with a loan for Wellcome to enable them to cope with the price war of the Li Group in the past few months. This amount can only be used for Wellcome. Don't think about it." If it is used for other purposes, we will supervise it."
Shen Bi is well aware of some of the financial situation of the Jardines Group. They are now demolishing the east wall to pay for the west wall. Once a group has problems, it will form a chain reaction, especially for Jardine Land, which will benefit Benefit. Kang Supermarket is slightly safer here.
George LaVine, like Shen Bi, requested that the loan from Standard Chartered must also be used for Wellcome Supermarket.
Henry Keswick was very dissatisfied with this. He and Shen Bi actually put forward restrictions on how his group's loans were used, just to keep Wellcome Supermarket. He did not vent his dissatisfaction.
Henry Keswick said: "Don't worry, our Jardine Matheson Group will not misappropriate funds from Wellcome Supermarket until the price war with Hengyu Supermarket is over."
Henry Keswick also has some other ideas. This time, he used the shares of Wellcome Supermarket to borrow money from two major banks, and he will borrow more money there on the grounds of resisting the Li Group. If the supermarket doesn't feel like it's working well, give the supermarket to the two major banks and let them run it themselves.
Henry Keswick is now increasingly confused about the future of Jardine. Under the successive attacks from the Lee Group, he does not know how long Jardine can continue to support it.
This time it was Wellcome. He believed that after Wellcome fell, his Milk International Company would be next. He knew that the Chinese family headed by Li Guangyu would definitely want to take back this company.