Reborn in Hong Kong: The Tycoon Grows Up

Bao Zixuan's character has always been to do whatever he says, now that he has found a target. Then it was time for him to take action. Now Bao Zixuan wanted to get what he wanted. Even if it costs more, I won't hesitate. As a businessman, I may not be mature enough, but as a young man, I can't take that much into consideration.

In 1946, American Roy Farrell and Australian Sydney de Kantzow, two former Air Force pilots known for flying the "Hump" route over the Himalayas, planned to transport much-needed cargo from Australia to postwar China. Thus Cathay Pacific was born.

In 1948, Butterfield \u0026 Swire, Hong Kong's leading British trading house, acquired a 45% stake in Cathay Pacific, which was an Australian-American joint venture at the time. Later, routes south of Hong Kong were assigned to Cathay Pacific for operation, while routes north of Hong Kong were operated by Cathay Pacific's local rival Hong Kong Airlines. Until 1958, Cathay Pacific acquired Hong Kong Airlines, officially dominating the local aviation industry and entering the Northeast Asian market.

1960: The first international airline flies to Osaka.

1976: The first Asian airline to launch a cargo service brand, Cathay Pacific Cargo.

In the 1980s, Cathay Pacific was 70% owned by Swire Pacific and 30% by HSBC.

1982: The first airline to fly direct from Hong Kong to Vancouver, setting a new world record.

1983: The first airline to fly direct from Hong Kong to London.

1983: First Asian airline to offer first, business and economy class services on every flight.

In April 1986, Cathay Pacific Airways was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its initial offering was oversubscribed 56 times, and it was officially listed for trading on May 16.

In February 1987, Swire Group and HSBC sold 12.5% ​​of Cathay Pacific shares to Hong Kong's CITIC Group for HK$2.3 billion. CITIC became the third largest shareholder of Cathay Pacific Airways, and Rong Zhijian and another CITIC senior executive joined the Cathay Pacific board of directors.

1990: First direct service between Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

On January 17, 1990, CITIC Group increased its shareholding to 38.3%, and Cathay Pacific obtained management rights.

1991: First to introduce custom-designed stacked flight simulator.

In March 1994, Cathay Pacific acquired a 75% stake in Hua Min Airlines, a Hong Kong-based company mainly engaged in air transport business, for HK$200 million. Huamin Airlines was once operated by Shun Tak Group. In the same year, Cathay Pacific completely changed its corporate image and changed the original green and white striped design of the fuselage into a spread-wings logo. In July 1998, Kai Tak Airport closed and aviation operations were relocated to the Hong Kong International Airport in Chek Lap Kok. Cathay Pacific also moved its headquarters to Cathay City in Tung Chung, next to the new airport, with a planned investment of US$625 million.

1998: Polar One celebrates the world's longest flight with the first direct flight from Hong Kong to New York.

In September 2001, the 9/11 incident occurred in the United States, which had an impact on Cathay Pacific. Same year: First to launch online check-in service.

In early 2003, Cathay Pacific was affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Hong Kong and nearby areas. Passengers dropped sharply and more than half of its flights had to be cancelled. Fortunately, it was fully restored soon after the SARS epidemic was brought under control.

In 2003, 2005 and 2009, Cathay Pacific was rated the world's best airline by Skytrax. Its subsidiaries include Dragonair and Huamin Airlines.

On June 9, 2006, Cathay Pacific issued a statement stating that it had reached an agreement with other related companies on the acquisition of Dragonair. Cathay Pacific will fully acquire Dragonair from other shareholders of Dragonair for HK$8.22 billion and the issuance of new shares (90% of the shares). Another 4.07 billion was used to increase its shareholding in Air China from 10% to 20%. In addition, Air China purchased 10.16% of Cathay Pacific's equity for 5.39 billion, forming a mutual control relationship between Air China and Cathay Pacific and subject to the following four points: 1. Unless with Swire's prior written consent, Chinese shareholders are not allowed to hold Cathay Pacific IV shares The equity stake may be greater than Swire's shareholding. 2. Unless with the prior written consent of each shareholder, the equity interests of CITIC Pacific and China Airlines shall not exceed 29.99%. 3. Cathay Pacific shareholders agree that if each shareholder holds 15% or more of the equity, the shareholder will not make an acquisition from Cathay Pacific or accept an acquisition from a third party, unless recommended by Cathay Pacific's board of directors. 4. Maintain five managing directors nominated by Swire and increase the number of non-executive directors from three to four. After the transaction is completed, Swire Pacific, CITIC Pacific, China Airlines, and AVIC Industrial hold 40%, 17.5%, 10.16%, and 7.34% of their shares respectively.

On August 31, 2006, Cathay Pacific took delivery of its 100th aircraft, which was an Airbus A330-300.

On September 28, 2006, Cathay Pacific officially completed the acquisition of Dragonair, thus officially replacing Japan Airlines and becoming Asia's largest airline. And starting from December 1, 2006, it implemented code sharing with Dragonair to BJ and Shanghai.

2007: First carbon offset program created.

2014: First airline to win Skytrax’s “World’s Best Airline” honors four times.

On March 27, 2019, Cathay Pacific announced that Cathay Pacific had spent HKD 4.9 billion to acquire 100% of the equity of Hong Kong Express, and Hong Kong Express would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific.

On August 12, 2020, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Airways released its 2020 interim performance report. Cathay Pacific recorded an attributable loss of 9.865 billion yuan (HKD) in the first half of the year, and a profit of 1.347 billion yuan in the same period in 2019.

Bao Zixuan knows all about the development history of the major airlines in the previous life. Even the first plane Bao Zixuan took last time was owned by them. But the most troublesome thing now is that Swire Pacific has absolute control over Cathay Pacific. .

But now Cathay Pacific is not a listed company. If the major shareholders don't buy it, it will be difficult to get the shares. The key now is HSBC, and the other thing is to take action against Swire \u0026 Co., Ltd. and directly become the major shareholder of Swire \u0026 Co., Ltd. After joining Swire's board of directors, you can also increase your investment in Cathay Pacific, which will surely be yours sooner or later. But what Bao Zixuan didn't know was that what he thought was easy was not so easy now.

While arranging for people to acquire Taikoo Matheson shares in the stock market, Bao Zixuan called Shen Bi. Now if you want to fight against Swire Pacific, you must get the Cathay Pacific shares from HSBC, otherwise it will be really difficult.

Shen Bi, who received the call from Bao Zixuan, was in a meeting, and the main content of the meeting was about the direction in which Xiangjiang's capital market should go after the rise of Chinese businessmen. As a quasi-central bank, HSBC is the structure that determines the lifeline of Hong Kong's economy. It is unusual for Bao Zixuan to call him during this unforgettable period.

Shen Bi had to end the meeting at this time and think about Bao Zixuan's purpose. Many things now cannot be judged by friendship. Moreover, he and Bao Zixuan didn't have a deep friendship yet, so they could only decide by looking at each other's goals.

As the future manager of HSBC, Puves had access to confidential information. When he saw Shen Bi receiving the call, his face became a little solemn. I knew that Bao Zixuan's purpose of meeting was not simple, but now I couldn't guess what the other party was thinking.

Pu Weishi said: "Since Bao Zixuan had a conflict with people at the airport, there have been a lot of reports in the past few days. However, Heiyun and he did not have any overreaction. Why do they think of meeting you, Taipan, now?"

After Shen Bi heard Pu Weishi's words, he suddenly understood something. After all, not everyone can think like him to become the best executive at HSBC.

Shen Bi: "In the conflict at the airport, I think I should know what Bao Zixuan wants. He is a young man. Sometimes he does things based on his personal wishes and ideas without so much consideration. It seems that tonight's dinner is not that good. It’s simple and probably not tasty.”

Pu Weishi is also a smart man, and now Bao Zixuan is not short of money. Then it must be for HSBC's holding of shares in China Thai Airways, which is a company controlled by Swire Pacific.

Bao Zixuan actually wants to touch Swire Pacific's Cathay Pacific Airways. This is the most valued asset of the Swire family. Even HSBC cannot get involved. Bao Zixuan has taken action after all, but now he can't open a hole with HSBC. That would be really serious. It's hard to explain. After all, HSBC is a British bank, so there is no need to look at the Chinese. But even Shen Bi cannot get away easily if he offends the Shi Huaiya family.