"It has nothing to do with me," Xu Zhi said, "However, the two of you have to think clearly, whether you are forced to retire with failure at this time, or continue to control the largest consortium in Xiangjiang, this is the difference between heaven and earth?"

"The future is not certain. Niu Bijian said.

Xu Zhi shook his head and smiled: "With the current situation of Jardine Land, how sure are the two of you that they can deal with the prepared Keswick family?"

When you took over, the Jardine Matheson Group was so powerful, the first consortium in Xiangjiang deserved its name, even compared to HSBC, but now Hongkong Land has become the 'debt king' of Xiangjiang, owing a debt of nearly 20 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the Jardine Matheson Group has also been dragged down because of equity problems, and the profits of the entire group have decreased by eighty.

As long as Keswick holds a general meeting of shareholders, the two of you will calculate for yourself, how many shareholders will be willing to support you again?"

Niu Bijian didn't answer, and Bao Fuda asked, "What does Xu Sheng mean is that if you buy Hongkong Land, the two of us will still stay where we are now?"

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Yes, my original intention was to just acquire Hongkong Land, but considering the shareholding structure of Yidi Mutual Control, once Hongkong Land is really successful, then Jardine Matheson will also acquire it, and if the two of you can give me enough help in this process, then there will be no change in the positions of the two after the matter is completed, and at the same time, I will also inject capital to help Hongkong Land get out of the predicament, and there may be some business changes in this part of the Jardine Group, but Mr. Niu Bijian is still the senior class of Jardine Matheson, and you can continue to manage Hongkong Land in Bao Fuda." ”

Niu Bijian said: "Xu Sheng's ambition is too big, even the Jardine Group will not let go, which will definitely cause the Keswick family to fight back with all their might." ”

"I only buy Land, will the Keswick family be indifferent?" Xu Zhi shook his head and smiled and said: "My original intention is indeed to only acquire Land, and although Jardine's overseas business is not very good, it is not useless, if it can be acquired, it may not be impossible to operate well." ”

In the 21st century, Jardine Matheson Group is the world's top multinational company, with hundreds of branches, including several flagship companies, and Hongkong Land is only a small part of the entire Jardine Matheson in terms of scale.

But now the 80s are completely different, the current Jardine Group has a lot of branches, involving agriculture, minerals, construction, energy, automobile trade and many other industries, these are the 50-70s, Jardine Group expanded overseas industries, but none of these overseas branches can take a shot, most of them are serious losses or long-term profit is hopeless and need to inject capital.

If it weren't for the drag of overseas business, Jardine Matheson Group would not have become weak, and the original Wharf would not have been snatched away by Bao Yugang.

At present, the most core and most attractive assets of the entire Jardine Matheson are only left with the Landmark Group, and the others are dispensable, but although these companies are losing money, they still have a foundation, after all, they have been operated by Jardine Matheson for decades, as long as they provide funds and development direction, some of the leading companies can also become the flagship companies of the Jardine Matheson system.

"Maybe I'll leave Jardine and I won't retire with honor, but being a loser is better than being a traitor. Obviously, Niu Bijian was not impressed and still rejected Xu Zhi.

"Traitor?" Xu Zhi smiled: "Mr. New Bijian, this sentence is over, the company you serve is the Jardine Group, not the Keswick family, and I just want to get the control of the Jardine family from the Keswick family, not to destroy the Jardine family."

If I take control of Jardine Matheson, I can help Hongkong Land get out of its current huge debt, and Jardine Matheson can return to normal, so wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"

"That's not enough. Niu Bijian remained unmoved.

"Okay, then if I tell you that I also have a large number of shares of Hongkong Land in my hands, I don't know if you want to?" Xu Zhi said with a smile.

Niu Bijian nodded and said, "The stocks in Xu Sheng's hands should not only be land, but also a lot of Jardine Matheson, right?"

"Looks like I was right, you already know. Xu Zhidao.

"After Wharf, we arranged a special financial department to keep an eye on the company's stocks, and found an anomaly some time ago, there are a large number of leather bag companies that continue to absorb shares of Jardine and Land, the person behind this should be Xu Sheng, right?" Bao Fuda said.

"Not bad. Xu Zhi nodded and admitted, in the initial acquisition, because it was not very urgent, it was difficult to find this hidden transaction in the day.

However, as time passed, there were fewer and fewer loose shares circulating on the stock market, and the total size of transactions became larger and larger, which naturally attracted the attention of Jardine Matheson's senior management.

"How much of Jardine Land do you currently own?" asked Niu Bijian.

"20.4% Hongkong Land, and 18% Jardine Matheson. Xu Zhixiao said: "In terms of equity, I have surpassed the Keswick family and am the largest shareholder of the Jardine family." ”

"It's true that you are the largest shareholder, but the Keswick family still has strong connections within the board of directors and management of Jardine Matheson, and I was able to become the Taipan of Jardine Matheson, not because these people were loyal to me, but because they thought that no one in the Keswick family was capable of managing Jardine better than me. "Xu Sheng, you represent Chinese capital, and if you come forward to initiate the acquisition, it will touch the interests of all the British management and board members within Jardine Matheson, and they will inevitably be on the side of the Keswick family." ”

The acquisition of British capital by Chinese capital is a concern for all British-funded companies in the Hong Kong capital market and British people working in Hong Kong.

After Xu Zhi acquired Hutchison, although in order to reflect Huayang's policy of treating everyone equally, he did not carry out a large number of layoffs of former British employees, but important positions within Hutchison were gradually replaced by Chinese, even if the current chairman of Hutchison is a British, this trend cannot be changed.

At present, although there are many factions and serious infighting within Jardine Matheson, these are all problems between the British, and once Jardine is coveted by Chinese capital, then all forces will immediately unite.

Xu Zhidao: "Of course I understand this, so all I want for is absolute control of Hongkong Land. As long as there is a controlling stake, in the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and stratagems are useless. ”

Niu Bijian said: "Then what do you want me to do?"

Xu Zhi smiled and said: "It's very simple, at present, for me, money is not a problem, the biggest trouble is that I can't acquire enough shares of Land, and if the price is forcibly raised, then don't say that the Keswick family, even ordinary shareholders, will know the problem."

Therefore, I need Jardine Matheson and Hongkong Land to gradually release some of the shares, so that I have the opportunity to acquire 34.9% of the total shares. ”

"Xu Sheng, even if you really acquire 34.9% of the shares, you may not be able to control the entire Hongkong Land, let alone Jardine Matheson. Niu Bijian reminded.

"I know that, I have my own plans. Xu Zhi nodded and said.

It cannot exceed 34.9%, because the new share stipulated by the Hong Kong government to trigger the general takeover offer was 50%, so the acquisition of 49.9% can easily control the acquired company and avoid triggering the general takeover.

With a control of 49.9% of the shares, it is impossible for the other party to hold more shares, and the acquisition is naturally successful, but now the new rule is that anyone who buys 35% of the shares must submit a full offer.

Another provision allows the sole majority shareholder to increase his stake by 5% to 45% after holding 35% of the shares for one year, which tacitly allows the controlling person of the original company to hold more than 35% of the shares.

Therefore, the problem with the acquisition is that when the acquisition reaches the upper limit prescribed by law, the controlling family of the other company may be more than its own equity!

This is a dead end, and the only way to do so is to trigger a general takeover offer, but it may not be successful.

A general offer means that when the acquirer reaches the shares prescribed by law, it must issue a tender offer to all shareholders at the latest price, which is mandatory for the acquirer and can be rejected by other shareholders, including the company's original controlling shareholder.

At the same time, even if there are really enough shareholders who agree to sell the shares, the stock price will inevitably rise because of the outbreak of the previous acquisition station, which is a huge economic pressure for the acquirer. This is the threshold set by the British government in Hong Kong to protect British-funded enterprises, some British-funded enterprises with low control power have become difficult to acquire because of this provision, and those enterprises with financial capabilities, such as the British-funded giants at the level of the four major foreign banks, are almost impossible to acquire under the protection of this policy.

With the scale of Hongkong Land, even if the operation is difficult, the market value is tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars, once it and Jardine Matheson are the stock market, the stock price will inevitably be higher.