The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Mr. Shen Bi, please forgive me for not being very good at tea art." On the balcony outside the Presidential Suite of the Hilton Hotel, Chen Zhiwen and Shen Bi sat opposite each other, and in the middle was a custom-made tea table that could make tea by itself. Chen Zhiwen made two cups of tea himself, handed Shen Bi a cup, and said with a smile.

"I didn't expect Chen Sheng to have this skill." Shen Bi took a sip of the tea and said, "The taste is very good."

"It's just for fun, please feel free." Chen Zhiwen said, in fact, making tea is also very simple, just a few operations. Yes, anyone can come, mainly depends on the quality of the tea leaves, his tea is naturally top-notch, even if the time may be a little bit behind, it will not affect the quality, besides, Shen Bi and he are also ordinary people, the taste is just about the same up.

"In Hong Kong, I have seen many people who can make their business big, but Chen Sheng is the first one who can do it so big and so leisurely." Shen Bi said with a light smile.

"It can only be said that I don't have the ability to manage, so I can only let professional managers manage it." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said.

"For an enterprise, it is even more important to have a leader with a strategic vision. Chen Sheng is obviously such a person." Shen Bi smiled and said: "I still remember when Chen Sheng wanted to buy this hotel, when Not only me, but many real estate developers in Hong Kong also think it is unreasonable, but now it seems that Chen Sheng is right. With the current land price, even if Chen Sheng breaks the contract with the Hilton Hotel, he can accompany them with a sum of money and get back the money. It is also much more cost-effective to manage the building.”

"What's the point of a hotel? Although all hotels in Hong Kong are profitable, the benefits are not high. If I get back the management rights of this hotel, the first thing I will do is to demolish the hotel and build the tallest hotel in Hong Kong." What does Mr. Shen Bi think about the building?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"It's indeed more cost-effective, but the investment is a bit bigger, but it's nothing to Chen Sheng." Shen Bi nodded, and asked again: "Chen Sheng asked me to come here, isn't it just for this matter? You Want to build a super building in Central?"

"The matter of the building is not urgent. Let's talk about HK Electric. In fact, Mr. Shen Bi must know my purpose." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said.

"Okay, then what kind of conditions should Chen Sheng put forward before he is willing to give up the acquisition of HK Electric?" Shen Bi said with a smile.

"Mr. Shen Bi is so confident, you will definitely win? Is it because the current market value of HK Electric has exceeded 5 billion Hong Kong dollars? Or is it because the 35% takeover offer triggers the rules?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile while pouring tea.

"Then Chen Sheng thinks he can win, right? With the current market value of Hongkong Electric, if you trigger the acquisition offer, you will spend at least 4 billion Hong Kong dollars. I don't know if you have such a large amount of funds, but such a large amount of funds , with Mr. Chen's operating ability in the past few years, it is more cost-effective to invest in other places? And if the takeover offer is not triggered, even if you get 34.9% of the shares, it will be difficult to overthrow the current board of directors of HK Electric with the support of Jardine Matheson and HSBC , maybe we can't do anything to you, but internal friction is also a loss for you, Chen Sheng, why not negotiate a condition now, you sell the shares to Jardine slowly, how about it? I guarantee you will not lose money. " Shen Bi said with a smile.

The acquisition trigger offer revised by the Hong Kong government is actually newly formulated by Shen Bi together with a group of British investors and the Hong Kong government. In addition to the 35% trigger, there are other conditions. For example, after the trigger offer, it must be within two months Acquisition of the stocks in the hands of all shareholders and shareholders at the highest purchase price of the stocks in the previous half-year period, the requirements for funds absolutely far exceed the actual value of the acquired company, because the previous acquisition will definitely cause the company's stock price to skyrocket, As long as the company launching the acquisition is sane, it is impossible to trigger a takeover offer.

And once the acquisition offer is triggered, if it does not acquire, it is tantamount to giving up the acquisition. According to the new law, the acquirer needs to slowly sell its shares until it falls below 16%, which is a cut-off point for becoming a director, and In the next 7 years, no further acquisitions of the company are allowed.

Everything is to protect British companies.

"It's indeed more difficult, but I think the biggest problem is HSBC. If HSBC can't help Jardine Matheson or HK Electric, then no matter how strict the law is, it's useless." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile. The laws of the case are stricter than the one customized by Bao Yugang in history after he acquired Wharf. The reason is that the current Chen Zhiwen is far superior to Bao Yugang in terms of strength. No matter how the Hong Kong government labels it, it will It is impossible to sit idly by and ignore the "fair" treatment of Chinese and British capital. We can only impose such harsh requirements to limit hostile takeovers in Hong Kong.

"What do you mean?" Shen Bi frowned and said, with an ominous premonition in his heart.

"Actually, I asked Mr. Shen Bi to come today to show you this." Chen Zhiwen smiled, then took out a stack of documents from the document bag, and handed it to Shen Bi.

Shen Bi picked it up curiously. After opening it, his face immediately changed, but he quickly returned to normal. He asked calmly, "There are only a handful of people in HSBC who know about this matter, not even the board of directors. Are you How do you know about this?"

"No one in Hong Kong knows about it, but there are a lot of people in the United States." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "A friend of mine, he was born in a banking family, and later made a small fortune in other fields, so he plans to acquire A commercial bank, by chance, chose the sixth largest bank in New York State. After contacting it, I found out that HSBC was also planning to acquire Haifeng Bank. !"

"Your friend has already acquired Haifeng Bank?" Shen Bi said with an ugly face. He naturally did not believe that such a coincidence would happen in the world. It must have been planned by Chen Zhiwen in advance, but HSBC's acquisition of Haifeng Bank is a top-secret event. There are only a handful of this matter, including Haifeng Bank, and some people in the Federal Reserve know about it.

These people know that they know it, but they will not take the initiative to tell Chen Zhiwen, because it is impossible to know each other. The only explanation is that Chen Zhiwen learned about HSBC’s plan from Hong Kong, and then arranged for his American friends to buy it. As an American , there may be a certain background, the acquisition of a local bank is basically not a problem as long as the money is in place, which is much less difficult than HSBC's acquisition.

"It's not completely acquired, let's say 51%, but my friend is just investing and playing around. If other people want to buy it in the future, he is still willing to sell it if the price is right." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

"Then, friend Chen Sheng, what price do you want?" Shen Bi naturally understood what Chen Zhiwen meant. If the negotiation goes well, HSBC still has a chance to get Haifeng Bank again. If the negotiation fails, it will be over for good. .

"The higher the price, the better. Mr. Shen Bi, you are the buyer, so you are the first to quote, but because the bank's acquisition needs the approval of the Federal Reserve, even if it is an American, and he has already negotiated with the Federal Reserve and Haifeng Bank. The board of directors signed the agreement, and there will be no transaction within two years, so it is better to wait for Mr. Shen Bi to quote after two years." Chen Zhiwen shrugged.

"Two years? This time is too long." Shen Bi said: "HSBC can withdraw from the acquisition of Hongkong Electric, and will not lend to Jardine again, but we need to negotiate again for the acquisition of Haifeng."

"This is the regulation of the Federal Reserve. If you can convince the Federal Reserve, my friend should have no objection." Chen Zhiwen said helplessly.

This is not to fool Shen Bi. The acquisition of a bank is a major event in itself, involving the funds of millions of depositors in a region and the financial stability of a region. Henry Morgan's business has also become very large due to the skyrocketing value of the past few years, plus the Morgan family. It is because of the status that the Federal Reserve agreed to the acquisition, but it is not without conditions. If you want to sell it again, you have to wait two years, or you will face huge penalties.

"Chen Sheng is really good. I, Shen Bi, really admire him. Take one step and see ten steps. When you plan to buy HK Electric, you are going to guard against me, HSBC, right?" Shen Bi said with a sigh.

"It's just a last resort, and I don't want to fight against the central bank in Hong Kong. This is just my self-defense." Chen Zhiwen said lightly.

In terms of funds, he is actually not afraid of HSBC, but the current laws in Hong Kong are biased towards British capital. In addition, HSBC will not come forward in person, but will only lead other people to fight against him. No matter how much money is burned, HSBC will not only If there is no loss, more funds will be lent out, and some will be earned. Besides, the funds in his hands will be of great use in many fields in the future, and it is impossible to invest too much in Hong Kong.

"Then what is Chen Sheng's condition? Tell me directly?" After thinking for a while, Shen Bi still said softly.

It is very difficult to find a bank that is suitable for HSBC's nationalization platform. It cannot be too small, because it has no internationalization capabilities, and it is too large. There are many protection mechanisms. It may be easy to buy shares, but it can be said to be extremely difficult to acquire management rights.

Just like Haifeng Bank, its profitability has been very poor in recent years, and the big banks in the United States have been unable to protect themselves due to the economic crisis. Energy and resources, once you give up now, I am afraid that you may not be able to find a suitable second company in the next five years.

Besides, even if you give up Haifeng Bank and fight against Chen Zhiwen, if the other party loses the acquisition of Hong Kong Electric, will you encounter the same thing when you find another company in the future? Once again, Shen Bi is about to retire, which is absolutely unacceptable, and waiting for two years is not a big problem, it is said to be two years, but when it comes to bank acquisitions, it usually takes one or two years.

"Mr. Shen Bi also said that HSBC withdrew from HK Electric's acquisition and would not allow funding for Jardine Matheson and Landmark. In addition, I know that HSBC had previously promised to give HK Electric a cheap low-interest loan of 1 billion Hong Kong dollars to develop its own land. If I take over HK Electric, I hope that HSBC can also fulfill this promise. As for the mortgage or loan repayment requirements, it is not a problem, we just follow the rules of Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

"Okay, no problem." The veins on Shen Bi's face twitched. Originally, it was just to raise the stock price of Hong Kong Electric in order to limit Chen Zhiwen's continuous acquisition. Carry out this promise, but now you can only follow the other party.

"Also, I have great respect for HSBC. After all, it is the central bank of Hong Kong, but the central banks of various countries basically do not intervene in commercial affairs. Therefore, I think it is better for HSBC not to intervene in such matters in the future." Chen Zhiwen added .

Shen Bi frowned and said: "Chen Sheng's request is too much, and the future of HSBC may not necessarily be my decision."

"It doesn't take long, just two years." Chen Zhiwen said.

It is naturally impossible to limit HSBC with this for a lifetime, and the other party cannot agree if the time is too long. If Shen Bi decides to find another bank, then the trick of arranging Henry Morgan to acquire Haifeng Bank by himself will be useless.

"Okay, then two years. After two years, I hope that Chen Sheng can keep his promise today and sell Haifeng Bank to HSBC." After thinking for a moment, Shen Bi nodded and agreed. There is no way to sign this kind of thing with a contract. It is not that the contract cannot restrict these transactions, but it is actually signed. Once the outside world finds out, HSBC will become the laughing stock of the whole Hong Kong and even the world, and he, Shen Bi, may also become a The most "famous" Taipan in the history of HSBC.

In business, admitting defeat is nothing to be afraid of. If you lose, you lose. Just let it go. Maybe the enemy a few months ago will cooperate in a few months. If you don’t leave such evidence, who will remember this in a few years? thing.

"Then wish us a happy cooperation, Mr. Shen Bi." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile, this is a fake cooperation, and he wouldn't reach out to shake hands, that would be a real slap in the face of Shen Bi, and it's unnecessary.

"Today is really pleasant, Chen Sheng. If there is nothing else, I will leave first." Shen Bi said, holding back the unwillingness in his heart.

"Okay, I'll see Mr. Shen Bi off." Chen Zhiwen took Shen Bi off in person, saving face.

Shen Bi didn't think too much, he was thinking too much at the moment, the two of them had just arrived at the lobby on the first floor, and when they suddenly saw a few reporters, Shen Bi immediately knew something was wrong.

"Crack, click." Several reporters pointed at Shen Bi and Chen Zhiwen, took a few photos, and then ran away immediately.

"What's the matter with you? Why are there reporters here?" Chen Zhiwen asked the people around him with a bad face.

"Sorry, Mr. Chen, we didn't know they were reporters." A lobby manager turned pale with fright.