Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

Within one day, Shen Porridge's secretary reported the investigation results to him.

"Hutchison Whampoa sent people to Los Angeles to investigate a company called New Century Software. This company is currently undergoing financing. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup in the United States are investigating this company. Hutchison Whampoa will participate in this company. Financing in progress.”

"Also, Watsons is transferring some British executives and employees to work in Los Angeles, saying that they are going to open Watsons supermarkets in Los Angeles and open up new markets."

"Do you know the relationship between that company called New Century Software and Lin Baicheng and Lin Sheng?"

After hearing this, Shen Porridge asked aloud. He did not believe that Hutchison Whampoa would participate in the financing of an American company for no reason. Lin Baicheng must have brokered this matter. He even suspected that Lin Baicheng had a large stake in that company.

The secretary couldn't help but shake his head after hearing this: "We can't find out about this."

Shen Zhou was not angry when he saw this. It was good to find out that Hutchison Whampoa sent people to Los Angeles to investigate New Century Software Company. HSBC was not a specialized espionage intelligence agency, so it was impossible to find out everything.

"So what is the valuation of New Century Software Company, how much money is it planning to raise, and how much will Hutchison Whampoa subscribe for? Do you know these?"

"I have found some, and it is said that they follow the financing of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and other institutions. Whatever the valuation of New Century Software by Goldman Sachs and other institutions, then Hutchison Whampoa will recognize the valuation. As for the financing shares, it will not exceed 5%. The details haven’t been decided yet.”

After hearing this, Shen Zong couldn't help but ponder: "The maximum cannot exceed 5%? In other words, even if New Century Software Company is valued at US$500 million, Hutchison Whampoa's funds will only be US$25 million, not to mention New Century Software Company's The valuation is probably not that high, and Hutchison Whampoa Capital’s stake is not as large as 5%.”

"The amount of funds that Hutchison Whampoa will spend on financing this time will not exceed US$20 million at most, or even less."

"As for Watsons, it is impossible to spend tens of millions of dollars at the beginning. It would be very good to spend ten to twenty million dollars."

Shen Porridge secretly calculated that the funds used by Hutchison Whampoa in the United States exceeded 30 to 40 million U.S. dollars, and this was his overestimation. It is likely that 30 million U.S. dollars would be enough.

Thirty million US dollars, converted into Hong Kong dollars, is just over 100 million. Hutchison Whampoa can definitely come up with this money itself.

As for Hutchison Whampoa, from the beginning of the year to now, the profits from gold futures and the sale of foreign trade business have allowed Hutchison Whampoa to obtain a large amount of funds. These funds have been used by Hutchison Whampoa to develop real estate, retail business, and new For the pharmaceutical business, the funds are completely sufficient.

In other words, if it is only more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars, there is no need for Hutchison Whampoa to make a loan, and the loan is still as much as 100 million US dollars. Even if there is a need for loans and more funds are needed to develop the business, there is no need to specifically borrow US dollars. You can completely borrow Hong Kong dollars.

"After the bank lends US$100 million to Hutchison Whampoa, people will pay attention to the direction of Hutchison Whampoa's use of the funds. See whether Hutchison Whampoa will transfer all the funds to the United States, or only transfer part of it. .”

Shen Zhou gave instructions to his secretary. Although he suspected that Hutchison Whampoa's loan funds had other uses, these were just his suspicions and more thorough investigation was needed.

"Yes, Taipan."

"By the way, at the same time, it is important to draw attention to one thing, which is whether anyone in the stock market will sell Hutchison Whampoa's shares in large quantities in the coming time."

If Hutchison Whampoa's investment suffers huge losses, then Lin Baicheng is likely to sell some shares in advance and reduce his holdings at a high level. If someone really sells a large amount of Hutchison Whampoa's shares in the market, Shen Zhou has reason to suspect that that person is Lin Baicheng.

"OK!"

The secretary responded.

After the secretary left, Shen Porridge thought for a while and left the office, went to the securities department and found the manager of the securities department.

“How many shares of Hutchison Whampoa do we at HSBC hold so far?”

"There are about 21.7 million shares, accounting for a little more than 5.4% of Hutchison Whampoa's total share capital. Based on the current stock price, the market value is a little more than HK$1.3 billion, and our cost is about HK$1.1 billion, and the profit is about HK$200 million. "

"You are still building positions, right?"

"Yes, the bank's planned target is 2 billion Hong Kong dollars in principal, and now it has only spent a little more than half, so we are still building positions."

"Temporarily stop building a position in Hutchison Whampoa. I will no longer buy the stock and will not sell it at the same time. I will hold it and wait and see."

"Taiban, why is this?"

"Don't ask any more questions about the reason, just remember to do as I tell you."

Shen Porridge did not explain the reason. In addition to the fact that he was just suspicious, it was also because the manager of the securities department was not high enough. If he were the vice president or bank director, he would definitely express his suspicions.

"Yes, I'll make arrangements right away."

The manager of the securities department responded without asking any more questions.

Shen Chow is still a little worried that Hutchison Whampoa's investment will actually result in huge losses, which will cause Hutchison Whampoa's stock price to plummet. Therefore, HSBC should not buy any more at this time. Anyway, HSBC already holds more than 20 million shares. Quite a few.

Furthermore, Hutchison Whampoa's stock price has risen above HK$60 again, which is no longer cheap.

…………

On the morning of July 12, Los Angeles time, the international gold price officially exceeded US$300 per ounce.

After the gold price exceeded 300 US dollars per ounce, the trading volume has increased. The orders placed by both longs and shorts have increased, and the long and short sides are obviously in the game.

After Lin Baicheng learned that the gold price had risen to US$300/ounce, he did not issue any orders. The arrangements that needed to be made had already been made when the gold price rose to US$290/ounce. Now he just needs to be a bystander.

In the afternoon of this day, Lin Baicheng went to Apple to attend Apple's board of directors.

This board meeting was proposed by Goldman Sachs. Steve Jobs has recently been lobbying shareholders and directors to list Apple. However, Goldman Sachs has a different idea. Goldman Sachs does not want Apple to go public now, but proposes that Apple raise funds again with Financing capital development company.

Goldman Sachs believes that Apple, which completed financing at the end of January, is valued at only US$110 million. Although its development in the past six months or so has been very good, if it were to go public, its market value would only be more than US$200 million at most, which is not too high. .

Therefore, instead of going public now, it is better to continue to raise a round of financing, and wait until Apple has greater development and a larger scale before going public again.

The reason why Goldman Sachs proposed this is because Goldman Sachs only holds 10% of Apple's shares. Even if Apple goes public, the benefits Goldman Sachs can obtain will be limited. Therefore, Goldman Sachs is willing to invest more money to allow Apple to compete with IBM. After all, Apple is currently developing very well and is not without the possibility of success.

Furthermore, even if Apple cannot compete with IBM, the possibility of IBM monopolizing the personal computer market is very small. Apple can definitely drink the soup, so the possibility of losses from continuing to invest in Apple is relatively small.

When Jobs pushed Apple to go public, Goldman Sachs proposed to allow Apple to continue financing, so Apple decided to hold a board meeting to hear what the directors had to say.

Lin Baicheng made a special trip to Apple to attend this board meeting.

After the board meeting, Jobs, on behalf of the management, first reported Apple's revenue and profits so far, and then said that IBM would enter the personal computer market. Finally, he said that Apple faced two options: going public and continuing to raise financing.

"Apple is not uncompetitive. IBM is very strong, but Apple has a first-mover advantage in the personal computer market. In addition, IBM will not immediately enter the personal computer market to compete with Apple. Apple still has time to continue to become stronger. .”

"So, I think we don't need to rush to list Apple. We can raise a sum of money for Apple. Once Apple can still stand and perform well when IBM enters the personal computer market, then we can take Apple If the company goes public, the company will inevitably have a higher valuation, and the market will be more optimistic about Apple."

Directors representing Goldman Sachs elaborated on Goldman Sachs's views.

A director of Elephant Capital arranged in Apple said: "However, once Apple's market is impacted by IBM, it will not be easy to list Apple, and Apple's valuation will likely be Severely affected.”

What they both said makes sense. Apple is now facing two situations, one is to go public directly, and the other is to bet on the future and choose to raise funds for Apple.

Jobs said aloud: "Everyone, everyone knows the current situation of Apple. The company is developing very well, but the company will face competition from the giant IBM in the future, and no one is sure what the future will be like. In this case, in order to In order for the company to have more funds to face the competition from IBM, whether to choose to list the company or to choose to let the company raise funds, I also hope that all directors will share their opinions."

"Jobs, what do your management think?"

Lin Baicheng said to Jobs: "I want to know if your management has unified their opinions? And what are your plans?"

The management directors sitting here looked at each other after hearing this, and Jobs spoke on his behalf: "We have unified our opinions internally. We believe that as long as an institution is willing to take over Apple's financing, then we will choose to raise funds and bet on the future. "

"So, you are leaning towards letting Apple raise funds."

Hearing this, Lin Baicheng tapped his fingers on the table and began to ponder.

Lin Baicheng's attitude is crucial. Jobs and other management and Goldman Sachs are inclined to financing. If Lin Baicheng also agrees to financing, then Elephant Capital and Logan Rockefeller, who also holds 5% of the shares, will have no choice.

They can either choose to agree to the financing and continue to be one of Apple's shareholders; or they can clear their shares and exit Apple and leave with the rewards.

After a while, Lin Baicheng asked: "How many shares is the financing company prepared to give up this time?"

"Now we should first decide whether to raise funds or go public for the company, but if it is financing, our management believes that 10% of the shares will be enough."

Jobs doesn't want to raise too many shares. After all, he currently only holds 26.18% of the shares. If the financing is diluted too much and he dilutes it again after the company goes public, then he will have less than 20% of the remaining shares.

"Since your management is more inclined to raise funds, I personally agree to let the company continue to raise funds and not go public first."

The reason why Lin Baicheng agreed to raise funds rather than go public is because he holds 27% of Apple's shares. Now that Apple's market value is not high when it goes public, this is not in his interest. He is willing to take a chance on Apple's future.

"Then let's all vote."

Jobs spoke up and asked the directors to vote on whether the company should raise capital or go public.

The result of the vote was no surprise. The board of directors passed Apple's financing proposal and decided to give up 10% of its shares for financing.

A director representing Goldman Sachs said: "Everyone is well aware of the competition Apple is about to face. What the company needs are shareholders who work together. Therefore, if anyone wants to sell their shares, please make a decision now. Goldman Sachs will Continue to lead the investment.”

This time, Mike Makkula did not choose to sell his shares. His investment in Apple has long been repaid and he has made a lot of profits. Now he only has 5.4% of Apple shares left. After this financing, the remaining shares are even less than 5%, and he wants to take a chance. , even if he loses the bet, his loss will not be too big and he can bear it.

The director represented by Elephant Capital was a little hesitant, saying that he would have to go back and report before he could make a choice, and that he himself could not decide.

Jobs said aloud: "Apple's pre-financing market value, as well as the institutions that will receive financing, must be discussed slowly and slowly. Don't worry, our management will ensure the interests of every shareholder and director."

After the board meeting, Lin Baicheng approached Jobs and stated that he was willing to accept the dilution of the corresponding shares this time, but he would recommend an institution to participate in this financing. The institution he recommends will not compete with Goldman Sachs to lead the investment, and only needs 3% of the shares.

After hearing this, Jobs said that in principle there was no problem and he would try his best to help Lin Baicheng fight for it.

For Jobs, Lin Baicheng, a major shareholder who doesn't take care of much, is a very good partner. As Goldman Sachs' shareholding ratio will continue to increase, he and the management very much need the support of Lin Baicheng, a major shareholder.

Jobs and others are still a little wary of Wall Street capital. In fact, if Lin Baicheng hadn't had much involvement in Apple's operations, Steve Jobs and other management would have been very wary of him. Why did he have so many shares?

In fact, if you really want to talk about it, Lin Baicheng's shareholding ratio is the largest among all shareholders, a little more than Steve Jobs himself.

Lin Baicheng expressed his gratitude to Jobs, and then sincerely expressed that he would continue to support their management and hoped that everyone could continue to have pleasant cooperation in the future.