My Age of Investment

Latest website:

Wu Jianmin rushed to New York immediately after receiving a message from his good friend Jerry Yang.

Xia Jingxing received the CEO of East West Bank at No. 40 Wall Street Building where Vision Capital is located.

After a while of pleasantries, Wu Jianmin started to get straight to the point and asked: "Darren, Jerry said you are interested in acquiring our East West Bank?"

"good!"

Wu Jianmin nodded and asked, "Are you acquiring in the name of Vision Capital or in the name of Vision Financial Holdings Group?"

"Of course it's the latter."

Wu Jianmin said with a smile: "The acquisition between Envision Financial Holdings and AIA is not completely over yet, right?"

"The agreement has been signed, and it will probably take a few months for complete delivery."

Wu Jianmin said: “It is normal for such a large transaction to take several months.

But I have a question, Darren, why are you so anxious to acquire East West Bank? "

Xia Jingxing smiled lightly, "I'm not anxious to acquire East West Bank, I'm anxious to acquire a bank."

Wu Jianmin smiled and understood the meaning of the other party's words. He didn't have to buy East West Bank.

Seeing this, Wu Jianmin said frankly: "To be honest, shareholders are not very willing to sell East West Bank.

More than a year ago, East West Bank's peak share price exceeded US$40. Now it has fallen to only US$4, and its market value has dropped from nearly US$6 billion to less than US$600 million. .

In fact, East West Bank has always been very conservative in its operations and has not participated in subprime derivatives transactions on a large scale.

Our stock price plummeted, which was only affected by the general environment. There were no problems with the bank's own operations.

From 1997 to 2007, East West Bank maintained an average annual net profit growth of 27%, much higher than its peers. "

Xia Jingxing listened with a smile and did not interrupt rashly.

After Wu Jianmin finished speaking, he said: "What we look at at China Merchants Bank is not its profit growth rate, nor its number of branches.

In fact, if Envision Financial Holdings wants to acquire a large multinational commercial bank at this stage, it can easily do so. "

Wu Jianyu had a slight smile on his face. He didn't think Xia Jingxing was bragging, but that the other party did have such capital strength.

Xia Jingxing suddenly set his sights on East West Bank, which surprised him. He didn't understand why the other party was interested in their small bank.

"The most attractive thing about East West Bank for us is its name..."

Looking at Wu Jianmin's confused eyes, Xia Jingxing added with a smile: "The meaning behind the name!

The predecessor of East West Bank was a small community bank established in Los Angeles' Chinatown in 1973. It mainly provided services to new immigrants who did not speak English.

As for you, Mr. Wu, your ancestral home is Shanghai, and you were born in Hong Kong. You came to the United States to study in the 1970s, and worked at Deloitte for ten years after graduation.

In 1991, at the age of 32, you helped Indonesian Chinese tycoon Lin Guoxiang buy East West Bank, which had total assets of US$600 million, for US$40 million, and became the CEO of this bank that was already beginning to take shape.

In the following more than ten years, under your control, East West Bank conducted fifteen or sixteen mergers and acquisitions, and successfully listed on Nasdaq. It has total assets of more than 20 billion US dollars, ranking 38th among all banks in the United States.

This is a very remarkable achievement. Mr. Wu owes a lot to East West Bank to its current scale. "

Seeing Xia Jingxing talking about the history of East West Bank like a treasure trove and praising himself so much, Wu Jianmin couldn't help but smile.

East West Bank is not a large bank, but it has condensed half of his life's efforts, and it is also the career he is most proud of.

With this extraordinary performance, he was also successfully selected into the "Church of 100", becoming one of the 100 most outstanding Chinese in the United States together with Jerry Yang, I.M. Pei and others.

“Today, East West Bank has more than 130 branches in the United States, covering major cities.

The first Chinese branch was established in Hong Kong, China, the year before last. It seems that this year it obtained a foreign-funded corporate bank license in the mainland, right? "

Wu Jianmin nodded and said: "Yes, we plan to open the first branch in mainland China in the Magic City in the near future. The office address is on the 33rd floor of Jinmao Tower. It is also a neighbor to the Magic City office of Vision Capital."

Xia Jingxing smiled and said, "You must be planning to vigorously explore the Chinese mainland market, right?"

“In fact, we set up our first mainland office in Beijing as early as 2003, but at that time we did not have the strong capital to deeply explore the mainland market.

Now that China is playing an increasingly important role in the world, East West Bank, as a financial bridge connecting China and the United States, should not miss such a good opportunity for development.

We mainly engage in retail banking business for Chinese Americans in the United States. We also work hard to attract American companies doing business in China to cooperate with us. We also provide support for the expansion of Chinese companies in the United States through trade financing and commercial loans. "

Xia Jingxing nodded. There was not much substance in his words. As a bank with Chinese as its main management, East West Bank knew how to use its own advantages.

In the previous life, when BYD set up a factory in the United States, East West Bank provided financing support.

In addition, after entering China, East West Bank has mainly focused on the entertainment market, providing financing support for film and television projects of companies such as Bona, Hunan TV and Broadcasting Media, Tangde Film and Television, and participating in the filming of "The Wheel", "The Second Gunner", "The Second Gunner" "The Taoist Comes Down the Mountain" and other movies and TV series.

Since it is located in California, East West Bank also has deep cooperation with Hollywood and has participated in film and television projects such as "The Hunger Games" and "Marco Polo".

"I actually agree with many of your ideas!"

Xia Jingxing looked at Wu Jianmin and said with a very serious expression: "East West Bank has a very special advantage. Because it is backed by the two largest economies in China and the United States, it can actually do greater things..."

Xia Jingxing talked about his intention to expand East West Bank into a global Chinese bank.

After listening, Wu Jianmin said with a surprised expression: "Do business in places where there are Chinese people?"

Xia Jingxing nodded, "Yes, East West Bank was founded to provide convenience to Chinese Americans in the United States, and now this goal has basically been achieved.

But if you want to become a major global bank, or even compete with giants such as HSBC and Citigroup, you must keep pace with the times.

As you said, China is rapidly becoming rich and powerful, and the footprints of Chinese businessmen are gradually spreading across the seven continents and four oceans.

Why doesn’t East West Bank shift from providing banking services to Chinese Americans in the United States to providing services to Chinese people around the world?

Now East West Bank has laid a solid foundation in the United States. It only needs to work hard in China to radiate to the world based on China and the United States.

I can also see that, Mr. Wu, you are very good at inter-bank mergers and acquisitions.

If I successfully acquire East West Bank, I would like to invite you to continue as CEO and provide you with sufficient ammunition. I wonder, Mr. Wu, do you have the confidence to turn East West Bank into a large multinational bank with global coverage? "

Wu Jianmin was stunned and didn't know what to say for a moment.

It took him nearly two decades to turn East West Bank into a mid-sized bank.

Xia Jingxing, on the other hand, talks about being a major bank covering the world.

Can this goal be achieved?

Considering Xia Jingxing's strong financial resources, Wu Jianmin thought there was hope.

However, he does not dare to guarantee success. After all, there are cases of failure in mergers and acquisitions, and there are many of them.

But Xia Jingxing’s goal of “global Chinese banks” still made him feel excited.

As a banker, his greatest hope is to see more and more branches being born, and the bank's assets expanding continuously, becoming a pivotal presence in the financial world.

"Darren, I have to think about it. Your bank plan is very impressive to me, but I am already fifty years old after all. There is a big question mark as to whether my energy and past experience can support the completion of such a grand business plan.

My personal failure is a small matter, but if it delays and affects your business plan, it may cause immeasurable losses. "

Xia Jingxing nodded, "You don't have to answer me in a hurry. I'm asking you to meet me today because I want you to understand the goals and dreams of Envision Financial Holdings first.

As for the negotiations with the shareholders of East West Bank, I will entrust another person to conduct the negotiations.

Banks were invented by Western countries, but Jiaozi banknotes and banks appeared in China as early as the Northern Song Dynasty.

After the birth of modern banking, no banker with world influence has ever been born among ethnic Chinese.

The influence of several bankers in Southeast Asia and the business of their companies are also limited to the local area.

Mr. Wu, I think you have the ability to become a banner for Chinese bankers in the global financial community.

Such talent should not be buried. It should be on a higher stage and show its ambitions. "

Wu Jianmin was dumbfounded by Xia Jingxing's words. He was old enough to know his destiny and would not become passionate just because of a few injections of chicken blood.

But he had to admit that some of Xia Jingxing's words moved him quite a bit.

As a professional manager, his highest pursuit is not how much money he earns, but what kind of industry status he has achieved.

If we can really lead East West Bank to become a banking giant with assets of 100 billion US dollars and a market value of 100 billion US dollars, this life will be considered worthwhile, right? Wu Jianmin thought secretly.

Latest website: