Reborn Tycoon Rise

In December 1984, after 22 rounds of arduous negotiations, the Chinese and British governments finally formally signed the "Joint Statement" on the future of Hong Kong in the mainland capital.

Since then, Xiangjiang has entered a transitional period when it returned to the motherland in 1997. Some people have regained confidence in Xiangjiang's economy, but many people, especially some British-owned companies, decided to transfer out of distrust of the Chinese government. Assets, leave Hong Kong.

Land Headquarters Connaught Building:

"Mr. Madden, please take a seat." Xu Zhi greeted politely. The person coming was John Madden, the executive of Wheelock Group. A few years ago, Xu Zhi also purchased the Federal and International buildings from him. , although he already owns land and these two buildings are irrelevant, at that time it was the first time that Xu Zhi owned real estate assets in Central, and the price was also very cheap, outrageously cheap, and he didn’t know what John is now. Madden's thoughts.

John Madden smiled and said: "Mr. Xu is too polite. We haven't seen each other for just a few years. Mr. Xu has already taken control of Hutchison Whampoa and acquired Land. Now he is so majestic."

Xu Zhi smiled and said, "I wonder what Mr. Madden wants to see me for?"

After John Madden was silent for a moment, he said: "Mr. Xu, you already control the two largest British-owned foreign banks in Hong Kong. I wonder if you are interested in acquiring another one?"

"You want to take action against Wheelock?" Xu Zhi frowned.

When he learned that John Madden wanted to meet him, he guessed that it was most likely that the other party wanted to sell the Wheelock shares. In the original history, the Madden family sold its shares to Southeast Asian tycoon Qiu Teck-bat in early 1985, and then the most famous commercial merger and acquisition battle in Hong Kong history broke out - the Wheelock battle.

But now, John Madden seems to regard himself as the first target, or he hopes to add a potential buyer so that he can compete with Qiu Deba, so that the Madden family can benefit from it.

Although he already knew this, Xu Zhi was still surprised and asked, "I wonder why Mr. Madden wanted to take action against Wheelock?"

"What's the reason? Doesn't Mr. Xu still know?" John Madden asked.

"Okay, I understand." Xu Zhi smiled. Except for Taikoo \u0026 Co., the major foreign banks in Xiangjiang were very unfriendly to the mainland. Even before, they all made money in Xiangjiang and based themselves overseas. But now Hong Kong is about to return, and these people are naturally ready to run away, so the stocks and real estate they hold become assets that need to be sold.

Wheelock is the most radical among the four major foreign banks. As early as the 1970s, the Madden family, which had the "foresight", lacked confidence in the future of Hong Kong and worried that sooner or later Hong Kong would return to the mainland, and their foreign banks would also be affected. blow.

So starting from the 1970s, Wheelock Group began to implement strategic transfers of assets. In 1976, Wheelock had intended to sell itself to Land, but the news leaked, causing HSBC to intervene, and the Jardines Group was also worried about Land's involvement. After the share exchange of Defeng, Land's control will be unstable, and the transaction will eventually come to nothing.

In the late 1970s, with the recovery of Xiangjiang real estate, Wheelock took the opportunity to sell off its land assets, including the two Central buildings sold to Evergrande, and raised huge funds for investment in the shipping industry.

John Madden shares the same idea as many Chinese shipping kings. He believes that ships are mobile assets. Even if there is a problem on the Hong Kong River, ships are spread all over the world and there will be no danger.

But the "political crisis" may have been avoided, but the "financial crisis" could not be escaped. A "shipping industry crisis" sweeping the world severely damaged the entire Wheelock Group. By 1984, Wheelock had to sell ships to solve the problem. There are financial problems, and huge debts are also owed, including ordering two giant cargo ships from a Danish shipyard, with a total value of 400 million US dollars, but they cannot get the goods because they have no money. If the delay continues, the shipyard will appeal to the court. If there is a forced auction, Wheelock will suffer even greater losses.

John Madden said directly: "Mr. Xu, Wheelock is indeed caught in some problems, but it still holds a lot of high-quality assets. Now that the Sino-British negotiations have ended, Hong Kong's economy is about to recover. As long as it is managed well, it will Defeng will be able to return to the top sooner or later!"

"Let's not talk about acquisition or not. Do the Zhang family know about this?" Xu Zhi asked.

Wheelock was once one of the four major British-owned foreign banks. Although it is at the bottom of the scale, it cannot be underestimated. Even after several years of property sales, Wheelock still holds many industrial office buildings, hotels, Shopping malls, etc.

However, although the person in charge of Wheelock is John Madden, the largest shareholder is not, but the Zhang family, a Chinese family. However, the Zhang family has always kept a low profile. Except for some wealthy people in Hong Kong, most ordinary people do not know this. family existence.

But two years ago, an elder of the Zhang family passed away, causing the family to fight for the inheritance and go to court. Only then did the ordinary people in Xiangjiang know how the Zhang family was rich and that the largest shareholder of Wheelock was actually a Chinese family. .

John Madden's management caused serious losses to Wheelock. The Zhang family finally couldn't help but jump out and intended to fight for control of Wheelock. Naturally, John Madden could not agree, but the Madden family's equity was not enough. In the end, John Madden chose to sell his shares and cash out at the same time.

"The Zhang family doesn't know about this. What I'm selling this time is just the stocks in my hands!" John Madden said.

Xu Zhi smiled: "That means, if I take over the stocks in your hands, will I have to have a takeover battle with the Zhang family?"

"Although the Zhang family doesn't get along with me, they also want to leave Xiangjiang. I think as long as Mr. Xu is willing to offer a suitable price, the Zhang family will not refuse." John Madden replied.

Xu Zhi glanced at John Madden and said, "In that case, why don't students Madden go back and discuss the quantity with the Zhang family first? The two of you can agree on a price together. I think it's okay, and the deal can be completed immediately."

"This..." John Madden felt a little embarrassed after hearing this, and said helplessly: "Mr. Xu, I will tell the truth. Although the Zhang family also wants to leave Xiangjiang, they want to run Wheelock by themselves and then move their business to Overseas, if the Zhang family knew in advance that I intended to sell my shares, I'm afraid he would be ready. In this case, even if Mr. Xu can force the acquisition, the cost would probably increase significantly."

"That's true!" Xu Zhi nodded and asked, "How many stocks do you have in hand, and how much do you plan to sell them for?"

"Mr. Xu is so refreshing." John Madden said with a smile: "I have a total of 21.035 million A shares and 53.549 million B shares in my hands. The current market value is about 550 million Hong Kong dollars. Mr. Xu can round up the round number, 600 million Hong Kong dollars. How about that?"