The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Even if HSBC gives us enough funds, will we be able to surpass Chen Zhiwen? Now in Hong Kong, no one knows how much money he has?" Bao Fuda said with a frown. The companies under Chen Zhiwen are all non-listed companies, and outsiders don't know anything about it, but they can roughly know from the scale, and the benefits must be good. In addition, Chen Zhiwen's overseas bank relationship, no one knows how much money he can mobilize .

"I thought so before, but Chen Zhiwen's main business is probably overseas and his industrial companies have limited funds in Hong Kong. Otherwise, why didn't he acquire HK Electric last year? Hong Kong Electric, when the oil crisis just broke out, the stock price was much lower than it is now, if Chen Zhiwen has been thinking about Hong Kong Electric, then he should do it at that time." Niu Bijian analyzed.

"You mean that he doesn't have a lot of funds that he can use for this acquisition, but no matter what, it doesn't mean that he can't mobilize funds from overseas when there is a problem with the acquisition of HK Electric." Bao Fuda said with a frown.

"So we still need to make a quick decision. In addition to HSBC, we also need to convince the management of Hong Kong Electric. If they agree to increase our shares directly, then we will quickly become a major shareholder of Hong Kong Electric. Then we have a certain chance. Especially now that the triggering tender offer has been changed to 35%, Chen Zhiwen wants to reproduce Hutchison and Wharf again, and it is several times more difficult." Niu Bijian said.

"That's fine. You can really try it. The value of Hong Kong Electric is still higher than that of Wharf. If we get Hong Kong Electric, the scale of Jardine can also be raised to a higher level." Bao Fuda nodded and said.

"It is estimated that Shen Bi or Sandas 5 years ago would never have imagined that one day they would want me to become stronger." Niu Bijian sighed.

"The scale of Chinese companies is getting stronger and stronger now, and our British-funded companies can no longer fight internally." Bao Fuda said.

"Okay, let's make an appointment with Shen Bi first. The time will be staggered a little. After an hour with Shen Bi, we will make an appointment with Connor, the chief executive of Hong Kong Electric. This way we can negotiate at once. I don't know what Chen Zhiwen's plan is now, so we must hurry up." The battle will be decided quickly," Niu Bijian said.

"Okay, leave this matter to me." Bao Fuda said.

Cultural Oriental Hotel is one of the most luxurious hotels in Hong Kong, not inferior to Hutchison's Hilton Hotel, and it is completely owned by the Jardine Group. The management and property belong to Jardine.

In the presidential suite, four British ghosts gathered together, namely Niu Bijian and Bao Fuda from Jardine, and Shen Bi and Diss from HSBC.

"Shen Bi, we invited you here this time, you should know why?" Niu Bijian said with a smile while drinking his coffee.

"Is it because Chen Zhiwen wants to buy HK Electric?" Shen Bi nodded lightly and said calmly. At this time, Jardine suddenly asked herself out, and she knew why with a little brain. Otherwise, ordinary things can be discussed when Jardine or HSBC hold the board of directors. The relationship is still very good, and both taipans are members of each other's board of directors. However, with the rise of Chinese capital in Hong Kong, there have been basically no secret disputes between the two sides recently.

"Shen Bi, I won't say anything else. With Chen Zhiwen's current situation, if he is allowed to acquire HK Electric, his influence in Hong Kong will surpass that of HSBC and me. We are all British. , even after staying in Hong Kong for so many years, the distinction between British capital and Chinese capital cannot be changed. No matter what happened in the past, we must not let Chen Zhiwen succeed now, otherwise, no one knows who he will attack next, nor will he I don’t know if there will be other Chinese following up.” Niu Bijian said.

"I agree with what you said, but how can we stop Chen Zhiwen? We HSBC can't come forward. This time, are you Jardine planning to end the game again? You also want to buy HK Electric?" and purpose.

"According to Chen Zhiwen's previous acquisition methods, he should already have a large share of Hong Kong Electric shares in his hands. If the development is left unchecked, even if the Hong Kong government sets a 35% acquisition offer trigger rule, it is impossible to stop it. Chen Zhiwen , This point, you know better than me." Niu Bijian said.

"Then what do you want to do?" Shen Bi nodded and said, the 35% acquisition offer trigger rule is far more protective of the acquired company than before. If this regulation had already existed when Chen Zhiwen acquired Wharf, Then it is very difficult to succeed.

But Hongkong Electric is quite special. It does not have a major shareholder controlling family. Like HSBC, it is a model of universal shareholding. Under normal circumstances, their management is very happy, because there is no major shareholder, they are the company HSBC is the "quasi-central bank" of Hong Kong, with legal protection, outsiders are not allowed to acquire more than 1% of the shares, but HK Electric and some other similar companies can No.

"I would like to arrange for Hong Kong Land to acquire Hong Kong Electric, but instead of competing with Chen Zhiwen in the stock market, Hong Kong Electric's board of directors will directly increase the shares of Hongkong Electric, and Hongkong Land will obtain more than 33.4% of the shares. Coupled with the restrictions on the acquisition offer, it is impossible for Chen Zhiwen to succeed in the acquisition, which is completely different from Wharf back then." Niu Bijian said with a smile.

Once you become a major shareholder of Hongkong Electric, you don't need to do anything else, just wait for Chen Zhiwen to fail, because once the other party acquires 35%, they must buy it in full. As long as you raise the price for a certain day in advance, then Chen Zhiwen must According to this price, the entire HK Electric will be acquired.

The price is so high that it is unimaginable that it may really need to invest close to tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars. Niubi firmly believes that as long as Chen Zhiwen is not brain-dead, it is impossible to do such a thing. HK Electric is not worth the money at all, and even if Chen Zhiwen is really If he does this, he can also earn a lot of blood, conservatively more than one billion Hong Kong dollars, and it will also greatly consume the funds in Chen Zhiwen's hands. In this way, his own Jardine and Hongkong Land will be much safer.

"You have a good idea." Shen Bi said with a light smile. Before Hongkong Electric was acquired by Chen Zhiwen, the management still had absolute control. In theory, it was possible to carry out a private equity increase in a certain company.

In fact, the acquisition and anti-acquisition of other companies are the same. When the acquiree has no funds, it needs to find a "white warrior". The only way to get more stocks is to give up.

"But this is the only way, otherwise, we can only sit back and watch HK Electric being acquired, and then Chen Zhiwen controls the electricity market of the entire Hong Kong Island." Niu Bijian said.

"This is indeed the only way, but it seems that I don't need HSBC to participate, right?" Shen Bi said with a light smile.

Niu Bijian said: "Shen Bi, as I said just now, let's be honest and honest. There is no need to talk about him like this. It will only waste our time. I have already asked Connor to come here. In half an hour There he is.

I invite you to come, one is because although Hongkong Land can also provide this fund, it will definitely affect many normal projects, so we need a huge loan. For HSBC, this business will not lose money, and it can make a lot of money.

Second, my family may not be able to convince Connor. If he does not agree to bring Hong Kong Land into the board of directors of HK Electric by means of a share increase, it is impossible for Jardine to agree to confront Chen Zhiwen in the stock market. "

"Okay, since I'm being honest, let me also say that your method may indeed be the only way to prevent Chen Zhiwen from acquiring HK Electric, but Jardine is not the only one who can do this, right?" Shen Bi said lightly.

"Theoretically, this is indeed the case, but besides me, Jardine, who in Hong Kong is willing to offend Chen Zhiwen? Wheelock himself wants to sell himself. The Swire Group has always adhered to the principle of not offending others. Who is there?" Niu Bijian said confidently: "And time waits for no one, none of us know the current situation of Chen Zhiwen, if he succeeds soon, then it may be too late for you to find someone."

"If I really want to find it at HSBC, I will definitely find it very quickly." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"But finding some small roles is still very risky." Niu Bijian said: "Why don't I explain clearly what conditions HSBC needs to help me."

Although Jardine and HSBC do not want Chen Zhiwen to acquire HK Electric, in his plan, Jardine has taken advantage of it, and he still needs HSBC's loan help and the board of directors of HK Electric. Therefore, before coming, he If you are ready to be slaughtered, you can negotiate as long as the profit loss is not as good as that of Hong Kong Electric.

"Okay, first of all, no matter how much money you need, I, HSBC, can give it to you, but the interest will be 20% higher than normal." Shen Bi said.

"20%? Shen Bi, this is too high." Niu Bijian's expression changed. The interest rates of banks around the world are ridiculously high. If it weren't for the Hong Kong real estate market with a higher growth rate, I am afraid that a big company like Jardine Land Even if the acquisition is approved by HK Electric's board of directors, Hongkong Land will still need to invest tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. If the interest rate is so high, I am afraid it will lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

"You know how much money you need, and you still need to take out the loan first and then the mortgage, and the time is so urgent. If you go to any bank, the interest rate will only increase by 20%, which is a discount price that you can't even dream of getting." Shen Bi is confident. Man Man said, no matter what, his bank has to make a fortune first.

"Okay." Niu Bijian thought for a while, nodded and agreed. What Shen Bi said was indeed reasonable. Any bank in the world would demand high interest rates for a sudden loan demand. In addition, there is no mortgage. Compared with Hongkong Electric after the acquisition It's still worth it.

"Another requirement, until you repay the loan, all the rights of these mortgaged Hong Kong Electric stocks shall not be enforced." Shen Bi said with a light smile.

"Shen Bi, you really have a good plan." After hearing this, Niu Bijian was shocked, and after a long time, Shen Bi might have figured out all his schemes.

The stock is mortgaged, but it cannot be traded, and the voting rights held by the shareholders are still there, but if it is waived through the contract, it will naturally have legal effects. Shen Bi's move directly limits Jardine's complete control of HK Electric. At least not until the loan is repaid, and the debt of more than one billion Hong Kong dollars, coupled with high debt, is so difficult to repay, unless Landmark is willing to sell a few of its own Central buildings.

The shareholder of Hongkong Land has no voting rights, and this right naturally goes to HSBC. Although it is obvious that the bank has no voting rights when it obtains stock mortgages, Shen Bi's operation is basically equivalent to obtaining voting rights. Bypassing the Hong Kong government's restrictions on HSBC, killing two birds with one stone, after a long time, I was working for HSBC.

"My request is also very fair. Your conflict with Chen Zhiwen has huge benefits, but I don't have it. You have to give me some benefits, otherwise how can I explain to the board of directors." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Okay, I promise you." Niu Bijian agreed after a moment of contemplation, and first got the shares, as long as the shares are in hand, even if there is no voting right in the short term, the shares belong to him in name, as long as the debts are paid off Then all the rights will return naturally.

After all, if you want to acquire one of the top ten listed companies in Hong Kong, the price is actually not that big. Otherwise, if there is no hostile takeover by Chen Zhiwen, but Jardine Harmony would buy it, HSBC may not agree and turn against itself , then Jardine will pay a higher price than it is now. Generally speaking, if he really succeeds in becoming a shareholder of Hong Kong Electric, then he still has to thank Chen Zhiwen.

After a while, Connor the head of HK Electric arrived.

"Connor, long time no see." Shen Bi said with a smile when he saw the people coming. They are all top British-funded listed companies in Hong Kong, and everyone knows them.

"Yeah, it's been almost half a year." Connor nodded and said, "Why did you two ask me to come?"

Newbijian said with a smile: "Connor, we invited you here to help you solve the hostile takeover problem that HK Electric is facing today."

"Oh, please tell me." Connor asked, being met by two heads of the largest British consortium in Hong Kong, he knew that it must have something to do with the acquisition of his company, Hong Kong Electric. He actually didn't believe that Big Bad Wolf would Offer to help, but it doesn't hurt to come and find out.

"That's the case." Niu Bijian explained his plan concisely and clearly.

"In this way, wouldn't HK Electric become a Jardine department?" Connor neither agreed nor opposed.

"If you don't become Jardine, then you will become Chen Zhiwen's subordinate. Although Shen Bi and I have many disagreements, it is generally accepted that HK Electric has no choice. Even if you don't choose Jardine, you still need to choose another company." , otherwise, you will never be able to defeat Chen Zhiwen." Niu Bijian said.