My Age of Investment

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Xia Jingxing didn't say anything, and kept looking at Blankfein with his eyes.

"Darren, I really didn't lie to you. Not only you, but we also seriously underestimated AIG's greed for money, or to be more precise, its urgency to alleviate its own financial difficulties."

Blankfein said with a serious expression: "From last year to now, including equity and debt financing, the government has supported AIG Group with a total of US$182.5 billion.

Not only taxpayers have opinions, but there are also different voices within the government.

This has caused AIG to face pressure from all aspects, so their executives very much hope to sell their Asia-Pacific business at a good price. "

Xia Jingxing said calmly: "Mr. Blankfein, you promised me that you could win this business easily.

You also told me that if even Goldman Sachs can't handle this business, no one on Wall Street can handle it. "

Being slapped in the face by Xia Jingxing when he dug out old accounts, Blankfein felt a little embarrassed.

He had lowered his stance, but Darren still refused to let go. .

This made him feel very unhappy! There is an urge to walk away.

But for the sake of the dollar, he endured this tone.

Taking a deep breath, Blankfein said as calmly as possible: "Darren, AIG has been rumored since October last year to divest and sell off non-core assets to repay debts.

Among them, AIA, the flagship business in the Asia-Pacific region, was the business segment least affected by the financial tsunami, attracting more than 40 investment institutions from around the world.

Potential buyers include insurance companies, banking groups, sovereign wealth funds and private equity investment funds.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Life formed a joint consortium to join in the fun.

But why did so many institutions eventually give up on acquiring AIA?

The core issue is the quotation!

The AIG guys were crazy about money and made an offer of US$40 billion.

I think this price is very unreasonable and don't want to see our partners suffer losses, so the progress of negotiations has been slow. "

Xia Jingxing said in his heart, you will find a reason and think about it all for us?

"The offer of US$40 billion is definitely unreasonable. There are only a handful of institutions in the world that can spend so much money at once, and they also have to consider the risk of M\u0026A failure."

In fact, Xia Jingxing was also secretly paying attention to AIG's sale of Asian assets, and did not hand over the task to Goldman Sachs and completely let it go.

China Life and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have indeed had contact with AIG as Blankfein said.

Domestic media also reported on this matter in series at that time, saying that it would start a wave of Chinese overseas mergers and acquisitions.

As a result, the thunder was loud and the rain was light. After the two institutions contacted AIG for one round, nothing happened at all.

The reason is that the target is too big, the acquisition risk is too high, and both institutions are government-owned enterprises, which requires a lot of courage from the management to bet on the future.

Blankfein clapped his hands fiercely and said, "Dylan, you have hit the key point.

It is precisely because there are too few institutions with the strength and courage to acquire AIG, so we have not been hasty to take action, intending to test the patience of AIG management.

When those people completely lose their patience and feel that there is no hope, we can stand up like a savior. At that time, many things will be much easier to talk about. "

Xia Jingxing turned his head and glanced at Blankfein, then smiled and said, "Do you think their patience has been worn away now?"

Blankfein nodded lightly, "That's almost it. It's been four or five months since AIG released the news to contact various investors.

During this period, AIG management also contacted dozens of intended acquirers, and should have a very clear assessment of AIA's value.

If we take action at this time, we are sure to kill him with one strike! "

Seeing Blankfein's confident look, Xia Jingxing couldn't help but sneer: "Are you sure you can kill with one strike? Morgan Stanley has been helping us take down Lehman Asia for several months.

Now that the renamed Envision Securities has begun to operate normally, I believe it will soon reach or even surpass the performance of Lehman Asia during its peak period.

Time also has a cost. If it is delayed for a long time, we will have no choice but to give up AIA.

After all, assets all over the world have depreciated significantly, and there are countless treasures to be found. "

When he heard that Xia Jingxing intended to give up AIA, Blankfein became anxious. The cooked duck could not fly away.

"Daerun, don't worry, let me analyze it for you!"

Xia Jingxing leaned back and looked at Blankfein lazily.

Now he is the buyer, so he is the boss.

If Goldman Sachs fails, it can always find another acquisitions adviser.

"AIG's management is now divided into two groups. One group is in favor of selling all the shares of AIA to repay debts, and the other group plans to sell 25%-49% of AIA's shares in the form of transfer of old shares, retain the status of the controlling shareholder, and sell the shares as soon as possible. Promote AIA to be listed on the Asian securities market."

Blankfein said with a solemn expression: "No one of the two groups can convince the other. While they are looking for a suitable buyer, they are also actively carrying out self-rescue work.

If an institution is willing to invest financially in AIA, our plan to acquire AIA may be completely in vain.

Therefore, we now need to get rid of the first faction and let them suppress the grievances within. "

Xia Jingxing listened with an expressionless face and quickly analyzed in his mind.

Blankfein's words are basically without water, and now AIG is indeed divided into two factions.

One group hopes to get money as soon as possible to repay the government's debt;

The other group is unwilling to sell AIA at a low price. It hopes to sell a minority stake first to relieve financial pressure, then promote AIA to be listed, and then sell the remaining equity through the secondary market.

Both groups planned to sell AIA, but they differed on the timing.

Xia Jingxing was naturally not willing to just invest in AIA, so how much money would he make?

And the investment is not a small amount. With this money, wouldn't it be good for him to invest in the technology industry?

What he hopes is to annex the entire AIA and let it and Envision Securities jointly form a financial holding group covering Asia.

Blankfein frowned and said: "Darren, the main problem facing us now is the price issue.

AIG is not Lehman, and the creditors committee can sell assets at will.

Although they owe nearly $200 billion, they have finally escaped bankruptcy, which gives them enough time to slowly sell off their assets at a price they think is reasonable.

At the same time, AIA's own operations did not have any problems.

It has been operating in the Asian market for more than 90 years and occupies a considerable market share in the region, with more than 20 million insured customers and 20,000 employees, with total assets of more than US$60 billion.

In addition, in terms of insurance policies, AIA ranks first in the Hong Kong market and is also the champion among foreign life insurance companies in the mainland market.

If such high-quality assets are combined with Lehman Asia and acquire a commercial bank at the same time, then the Envision Financial Holdings Group will be completely formed and will definitely be a behemoth among the top in Asia.

Even if you look around the world, it is a very powerful financial holding group. "

Xia Jingxing smiled. Blankfein was really an old fox, and he actually saw through his plan.

"Insurance assets don't have extremely exaggerated performance growth like the technology industry. If the acquisition price is too high, then again, we don't have to buy it."

Blankfein smiled and said: "Darren, although the increase in insurance assets is not large, and it is incomparable with technology assets, it also depends on who is in the hands.

The insurance company is in the hands of you and Buffett, and it is definitely a money printing machine running at full capacity. "

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