At that time, Volvo was divided into two, and Volvo Group (abbreviated as AB Volvo) and its brother Volvo Cars were not only different from the products involved, but also a big difference was that it was a publicly held listed company.

Unlike when he received 100% control of Volvo Cars, Han Hao wanted to win the right to speak on AB Volvo, and could only hope to become its major shareholder.

This time I came to Sweden in the hope that King Gustav would be able to negotiate the transfer of shares with the Cevian Fund, the majority shareholder of AB Volvo.

With an 8.2% stake in Volvo and 15.6% of the voting rights, the Kevian Fund is the company's largest shareholder. They are open to selling their stake in AB Volvo, as the commercial vehicle market is equally competitive and Volvo alone cannot compete with other competitors.

You must know that the two giants of European commercial vehicles, MAN and Scania, have stood behind the Volkswagen Group, in order to dominate the European and even the world market, Volkswagen in the layout of commercial vehicles can be described as well-intentioned. The other giant, Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle, stands behind the Mercedes-Benz Group, and its strength should not be underestimated.

In the face of an increasingly competitive market, it is difficult for AB Volvo to continue to maintain its current market position without a big backer behind the blood transfusion and coordinated operation.

Therefore, the Cevian Fund has the intention of exiting when it sees good, and at the same time is looking for a good in-law for AB Volvo.

Chunghwa Group is invincible in China's commercial vehicle market, and will also export products abroad, in terms of sales alone, has become one of the world's largest groups, not to mention the owner of the Volvo passenger car trademark, for AB Volvo is indeed the ideal new owner.

If you want to use $1.8 billion to buy 100% of Volvo Cars during the subprime mortgage crisis, the valuation of AB Volvo's 8.2% stake is more than $2.5 billion, which is calculated based on the existing market value of 31.5 billion companies.

In addition to trucks and buses, AB Volvo is also the world's leading giant in the field of construction machinery, the fourth largest manufacturer after Caterpillar, Hitachi and Komatsu.

XCMG, controlled by Han Hao, is the largest construction machinery manufacturer in the Chinese market, and complements Volvo, the AB in the high-end field.

There is also an inhumane reason, that is, to win AB Volvo, will significantly improve the level of China's machinery manufacturing industry, enough to transform from a manufacturing country to a manufacturing power in the field of heavy trucks, diesel engines and construction machinery.

Compared with some domestic entrepreneurs who have gone abroad to buy football clubs, hotels, real estate, vineyards and other industries, industrial giants like AB Volvo are the real gold mines. Although the F1 team is also suspected of burning money, at least it revolves around the main business of automobiles. Judging from the performance of the F1 Chinese team, the global popularity of Chinese car brands is still very good. If you can win the F1 championship in the future, this money investment will be very profitable.

For Han Hao, money is not a big issue, but control of the company (i.e., voting rights and board members) is the key.

In order for the Chinese to become the owner, handing over control of the company is a prerequisite, and the focus of negotiations between the two sides is here.

With the experience of integrating Volvo and Land Rover, Han Hao has a good idea of whether he can effectively integrate the resources of AB Volvo Group with Zhonghua Group.

After years of going abroad and paying tuition, it's time for the harvest.

"We should not stop at the moment, but look at the five to ten years from now. According to AB Volvo's current strength, it is already very difficult to compete with companies in the United States, Germany and Japan, and it is very difficult to successfully sit on the first throne in the world.

If it cooperates deeply with Zhonghua Group, relying on the huge market of China, it will be enough to send AB Volvo to global hegemony in the next ten years.

In the future, the competition between multinational enterprises will no longer be a single combat mode, but will rely on large-scale group armies to coordinate operations, and whoever has enough cards in his hand will have the last laugh. And the China Group and even China have endless potential cards in their hands, which are enough to affect the outcome of the whole game. ”

In the conference room, Han Hao stood up and loudly presented his ideas to the Swedish shareholders.

In addition to the Cevian fund, there are representatives of the Industrivarden (Swedish industrial investment) fund. Although they are the second largest shareholder of AB Volvo, they hold 22.8% of the company's voting rights and dominate the company's operations.

The WVR equity design has been established in the Swedish market, as in the case of the NASDAQ. On the contrary, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is still debating whether to open up the supervision of weighted voting rights.

In the case of Volvo Cars' IPO, Han Hao plans to list in Hong Kong and Sweden at the same time, and the current valuation has reached 25 billion US dollars.

If he can achieve an AB share structure with different rights to the same shares, he is very willing to further dilute the equity in exchange for more return funds under the premise of controlling the company.

On top of this issue, Han Hao has had many private exchanges with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, hoping to make a high-quality weighted stock like Volvo Cars the first listed stock with weighted voting rights in Hong Kong.

Therefore, in addition to negotiating with the Cevian Fund, Han Hao also had to bring in the Industrivarden Fund for tripartite talks to persuade the other party to reduce the voting rights in his hands, so as to achieve the strategic intention of his own words.

A big bargaining chip in his hand is to swap the shares of Volvo Cars Cornerstone Investment, which is preparing for the IPO, with the Cevian Fund and the Industrivarden Fund, and include them in the ranks of strategic investors.

The Cevian fund is more than happy to do so, selling its stake in AB Volvo with their left hand and then buying the cornerstone stake in Volvo Cars with their right hand in preparation for the IPO, with at least hundreds of millions of dollars in and out.

The expansion of the Industrivarden Fund's investment footprint from Sweden to the whole of Europe, and then from Europe to the world, illustrates the power of capital expansion. It is actually no stranger to the Chinese market, and it also includes the Zhonghua Group.

Through Hong Kong, a free port of capital, Industrivarden Fund has actually bought high-quality H-share investments in Chinese mainland such as China Automobile and Vinda Paper in Hong Kong stocks early on, and has made a lot of gains.

But to persuade them to give up control of AB Volvo and hand over the Swedish industrial pearl to the Chinese, it is indeed very unwilling.

You must know that last year, 2011, AB Volvo's global turnover was 36.7 billion US dollars, net profit of 1.5 billion US dollars, ranking 247th in the world's top 500, belonging to Sweden's top industrial group.

It is precisely because AB Volvo is so large that it belongs to the leading Swedish industry that the Industrivarden fund is reluctant to hand over control to the Chinese.

"We welcome Chung Wah Group to AB Volvo and look forward to deeper cooperation with the Chinese market.

But to transfer control of the entire group was too hasty. Although AB Volvo's revenue has a downward trend, this is inseparable from the international environment.

Rather than an aggressive business strategy, we want a smooth transition. In other words, you can come in first, but the business side is still operating according to the existing rules. ”

The Cevian fund was resolute in its retreat, and the Industrivarden fund was powerless to stop it, so it had to resort to a compromise strategy to try to stabilize the situation first. They are not opposed to the entry of the Chunghwa Group, but only hope to retain control of their own enterprises.

"Gentlemen, what we are discussing at present is not whether there is more or less profit, but the question of the life or death of the enterprise! Under the general trend, when the judgment is constantly being chaotic, AB Volvo must seize the opportunity to change itself in order to meet the requirements of the times.

You can wait, but the competitors of the United States, Germany, and Japan will not leave you time, and it is AB Volvo that will bear all the adverse consequences in the end!

It is no exaggeration to say that in fact, I can also wait, and there is a great opportunity to get more shares at a lower cost in two or three years.

But I didn't!

Because I really hope that AB Volvo can become the world's top industrial group and win the world's No. 1 throne!

In the long run, we both have exactly the same goals!

So, I don't think we should dwell too much on the minutiae, but rather unite and look forward.

It is necessary not only to push AB Volvo to the first place in the world and defeat competitors in the United States, Germany and Japan, but also to seize investment opportunities and repay investors with huge profits. ”

The biggest difference with the Industrivarden fund is that Han Hao focuses on enterprise development first, while a fund like the other party is more interested in return on investment.

Even if the company doesn't make a penny, as long as it can improve China's industrial level, then Han Hao believes that mergers and acquisitions are worth it. But if it doesn't make money, the Industrivarden fund will stop the loss and abandon the equity in time to look for the next profit target.

The meaning of Han Hao's words is also very clear, that is, if it cooperates with Zhonghua Group, Industrivarden Fund can not only invest in Volvo Cars, which is about to IPO, but also accompany Zhonghua Group to effectively integrate AB Volvo to obtain the income from stock price increase.

Whether you want money or face depends on how the Industrivarden fund chooses.

In the end, with the mediation of King Gustav, the Industrivarden fund bowed its arrogant head and agreed to transfer the voting rights cut to the Chung Hwa Group, after all, the Chinese are indeed the best new owners of AB Volvo.

However, they also received due compensation, transferring their 5% stake and 10% voting rights in AB Volvo to Chunghwa Group in the form of cash and share swaps. The result is a one-time gain of US$1.8 billion, plus a 2.5% stake in Volvo Cars in the pre-IPO period (or 4% if HKEX agrees to the AB share rule).

As desired, China Group became a major shareholder of AB Volvo, a Fortune 500 company ranked 247th in the world, and obtained 13.2% of the shares transferred by the two major funds together, and had 25.6% of the voting rights, becoming a veritable major shareholder and grasping the control of the enterprise.

With Volvo Cars in front, AB Volvo's stock price rose immediately after the news was announced, indicating that everyone has a positive attitude towards Zhonghua Group's participation.

When many Chinese people heard the news of the acquisition, their first thought was that the Zhonghua Group had already acquired Volvo, so how could they acquire it again? Later, when they learned about it, they learned that this Volvo was not Volvo, but was actually a giant crocodile among the world's top 500 companies.

The four major stocks in Asia, namely XCMG, Yuchai, China Truck and China Bus, have all risen to the limit, because they all have huge imagination space for product upgrades, making Han Hao's industrial empire stronger.