Hong Kong, HSBC.

"Mr. Shen Bi, this matter, to put it mildly, is related to you and my many years of business in Hong Kong, and to put it bigger, it is also related to the interests of all British people in Hong Kong, and even the interests of the British Empire." Niu Bijian said very formally.

"I'm an HSBC senior, not the Governor of Hong Kong, and I don't have the ability to look after the interests of all Britons." Shen Bi said lightly.

"But it also affects HSBC's interests, doesn't it? If Chen Zhiwen really becomes Hong Kong's No. 1 consortium, will Hong Kong's economy still be decided by HSBC? Niu Bijian said with a smile.

"At least I'm not going to be acquired." In the face of the deliberate agitation, Shen Bi was still unmoved.

"Today is Jardine Matheson, tomorrow it may be HSBC, although HSBC is protected by the law, no one can buy HSBC, but HSBC's business, investment companies or overseas business, the law can not protect, this group of Chinese for Hong Kong's high-quality assets, like hyenas." Niu Bijian said calmly: "5 years ago, Chen Zhiwen did it to Yonggao, 3 years to Hutchison, and large-scale privatization, and then to Jingzhou Yingxiao, and now it is Wharf, Mr. Shen Bi, Mr. Diess, do you guess what they will do next?" No one knows, we can't expect them to let us go, the only possibility for them to let us go is that they are not capable, and if they are capable, they will definitely start. ”

Shen Bi and Dis, who were sitting opposite, were silent, although they didn't like the people of Jardine, but they had to admit that his words were indeed right, Hong Kong's British capital in the era of the rise was also fighting each other, and finally formed a balance, and now the rise of Chinese capital, especially if there is a person with strong capital like Chen Zhiwen, he will definitely give a heavy hand to British capital, otherwise, Hong Kong's interests have long been swallowed up by British capital, you let Chen Zhiwen go to the suburbs to develop with peace of mind in the future?

In the real estate industry, Chen Zhiwen will definitely start, and the banking industry, it is also possible, the world's wealthy families, even if they are not the main banking industry, many will invest in different banks or acquire some small banks, what the future holds, it is really difficult to say.

Shen Bi thought for a moment and said: "Niu Bijian, we also understand what you mean, it's just that Chen Zhiwen is different from Li Jiacheng, last time I was ninety percent sure that Li Jiacheng would give me this face, but this time, three percent was not sure, although Chen Zhiwen is also involved in the real estate industry, but there is no absolute dependence on HSBC or even Hong Kong banks, besides, you also know that in recent times, their entire group has begun to slowly withdraw from the real estate market, and in the second half of this year, once Whampoa Garden is pre-sold, The entire Hutchison debt can be paid off at one time, and Chen Zhiwen's overseas assets are also very large, which you should also know very well. ”

"I know this, if you can't come forward, then I hope you can stand on my side, such as providing a certain amount of low-interest loans to Jardine Matheson, or deferring repayment, in short, I need at least 500 million Hong Kong dollars to deal with Chen Zhiwen's hostile takeover." Niu Bijian nodded and said.

As one of the capital leaders in Hong Kong, Niu Bijian's connections are also very large, and it is not difficult to investigate the scale of Chen Zhiwen's assets in the United States, after all, as Costco is getting bigger and bigger, some ordinary people are beginning to know about this company, and it is impossible to completely hide it when the external assets are too large.

In the face of such an enemy, Niu Bijian also had a headache, but the other party put the knife on his neck, and he could only fight back.

"It's just that 500 million Hong Kong dollars is probably not enough, Chen Zhiwen has acquired 37% of Wharf shares, which is basically the general trend, you are ready to 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, and you will only fall into a tug of war, if you want a loan, I can give it to you, but if the consumption is too heavy, can Jardine Matheson Group bear it?" Shen Bi asked.

"This" Niu Bijian was silent, Shen Bi was indeed right, if the Wharf was kept at the cost of increasing the debt of one billion, but the Jardine Group would definitely fall into greater trouble, even if it did not go bankrupt, I am afraid that the net profit would have to be lost in a few years, and it was more likely that the two sides burned money to the end, Jardine spent a billion Hong Kong dollars, but did not win, then it would be a blood collapse, how about Jardine He doesn't know, but he will definitely have to roll up and leave.

But giving up Wharf obviously won't work.

So he asked, "Then Mr. Shen Bi, what do you think?" ”

"Since it is not possible to be tough, then sit down and talk and try to solve this problem through peaceful means." Shen Bi said: "I can come forward and ask Chen Zhiwen out, and then you can talk." ”

"The premise of sitting down to talk is that at least both sides must have concessions, Chen Zhiwen has been laying out for several years, and he has also acquired 37% of Wharf shares, he is unlikely to give up." Niu Bijian said with a frown.

"Not necessarily, as long as the price is big enough, for example, if Hongkong Land takes the office building in Central in exchange, maybe Chen Zhiwen will agree." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"What? Central office building, this is not possible. Niu Bijian hurriedly shook his head and said, more than a dozen office buildings in Central are the core assets of the entire Jardine Matheson system, and they can earn two or three hundred million yuan every year, and many of them also rely on perennial rent to pay off the loan, rent is not only profit, but the expansion of the Jardine Matheson Department for many years, no matter what the loss is, it is fine, and the core is the existence of these huge wealth.

"You also said that Chen Zhiwen has come to this point, it is impossible to take the initiative to withdraw, unless you can persuade the Hong Kong governor to come forward, otherwise, it is impossible without enough price." Shen Bi said with a smile.

"The office buildings in Central are not good, but the buildings or properties in Admiralty, Causeway Bay, and Pok Floating Lam can be discussed, or non-real estate businesses can also be discussed." After thinking for a while, Niu Bijian said, as long as the foundation of the land is not moved, everything else can be traded, after all, at this point, it is absolutely impossible to exit without loss.

"Okay, then I'll pass on a message and make an appointment with Chen Zhiwen as soon as possible, otherwise, he is still publicly buying shares in the stock market, if he really buys 49%, then everything will be powerless." Shen Bi nodded and said. In fact, when it reaches 40%, there is basically no drama, as long as a few other shareholders are found, Jardine Matheson's control of Wharf can be overthrown at the shareholders' meeting.

"I have another idea." Diese on the side said.

"Mr. Diese, please." Niu Bijian suddenly became interested, knowing that Diesco is the general manager of Victory, and he can be said to have rich experience in mergers and acquisitions in Hong Kong, and he can also see the direct point of the same problem.

If Shen Bi is the guide of HSBC's strategy, then Diess is the sharpest knife in HSBC's hands.

"Tell me about it." Shen Bi nodded, he still trusted this right-hand man very much.

Diess said: "The capital behind Chen Zhiwen is very strong, and he now has enough Wharf shares, at this time, he can almost only rely on negotiations to solve this problem, but at present, we don't have any advantages on our side, so to talk like this, Chen Zhiwen is absolutely dominant, so we need to raise the cost of Chen Zhiwen's acquisition of Wharf shares, so that he is not so easy to succeed."

According to my speculation, although Chen Zhiwen has money, he should have a big investment goal, and if he spends too much money on Wharf, he will definitely not be very happy, and this is our opportunity. ”

Although he has cooperated with Chen Zhiwen many times, this time HSBC is on the side of Jardine Matheson, and Diess naturally chose the right position.

"You mean, Jardine Matheson also paid a premium for the stock market?" Niu Bijian asked.

"No, we don't need to really spend money, we just need to release the news, and then HSBC can also release the news to let all shareholders know that we HSBC support Jardine Matheson, then we don't need to spend a penny, we can let countless shareholders frantically buy Wharf shares, and increase Chen Zhiwen's procurement costs." Dees said.

"But this kind of operation can't last, if Chen Zhiwen can't agree to give up the acquisition of Wharf, then it must really end up buying." Niu Bijian said with a frown.

"Yes, but there's no other way." Diess said: "Chen Zhiwen is now buying Wharf shares for 40 Hong Kong dollars a share, I have observed before, although there are not many people who sell, but Chen Zhiwen himself does not need to buy a lot of shares, so we must make a quick decision, ask him out, and then negotiate, it is best to succeed, if it can't succeed, then consider the next step."

When we release this news, we are not only confusing shareholders, but also confusing Chen Zhiwen, who does not know our determination, and may have a chance. ”

"Indeed, give the market hope first, let them feel that Jardine Matheson will also do it in the future, and the person who holds the shares will definitely not sell the shares to Chen Zhiwen again." Shen Bi nodded and said, "Niu Bijian, what do you think?" ”

"Okay, then I'll go back and release the news first, and then you HSBC will do the same, so that you can stabilize the market." Niu Bijian nodded and said.

"Okay, then when Chen Zhiwen can't buy the shares, or has to buy them at a high price, I'll ask him again, so that the two sides can at least talk on an equal footing." Shen Bi said.

"That's all it can be." In the past, the Jardine Matheson Group looked down on Hong Kong, and only a few companies such as HSBC and Swire could be on par with him, and the Keswick family had dominated Hong Kong for almost half a century.

Unexpectedly, as soon as it arrived in his own hands, he encountered a real estate crisis, a global oil crisis, and a huge loss of the company's overseas business.

Who allowed someone like Chen Zhiwen to appear in Hong Kong?

The next day, Jardine Matheson Group publicly declared in Ta Kung Pao that Wharf is the core asset of Jardine Matheson Group, and Jardine Matheson Group will not give up its management rights, and said that Jardine Matheson Group has received the full support of the strongest bank in Hong Kong.

At present, Hong Kong's banking industry, HSBC is the first, Hang Seng Bank is the second, Standard Chartered Bank is the third, and the second Hang Seng Bank is also controlled by HSBC.

Many financial reporters also immediately went to HSBC, but what surprised them was that HSBC executives who were difficult to see in the past, or who ignored them even if they did, actually took the initiative to answer them: Jardine Matheson is an HSBC customer, and HSBC will give full support to its customers.

This is already the most obvious answer, and it is almost the 8 words "HSBC will give Jardine Matheson loan" written on the face.

At this time, it is already in the afternoon, and it is too late to publish the newspaper, and it can only be the next day, but so many investment funds or shareholders who have some connections can quickly receive all kinds of information.

Affected by this news, the stock price of Wharf, which had been hovering around 40 Hong Kong dollars, rushed to 50+ within an hour, and the seats specially prepared by Galaxy Group on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the acquisition of retail stocks were immediately empty, and occasionally a few people would come over and ask, do you want the price of 60 Hong Kong dollars a share?

The location of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the Hutchison Building, in order to pay attention to the acquisition of Wharf in the past few days, Chen Zhiwen specially came to the Hutchison Building to work, and by the way, you can also learn about the recent operation of Hutchison.

When he learned the news, he immediately came down from the high-level office, the elevator door had just opened, and several reporters in the exchange immediately surrounded him as soon as they saw the arrival, but before they could get there, they were blocked by several bodyguards.

"Chen Sheng, will the purchase price of Wharf shares increase in the future?"

"Chen Sheng, after the acquisition of Wharf, what is the next development plan?"

All kinds of questions were raised from different reporters, but Chen Zhiwen ignored them, walked to the VIP room on the second floor of the exchange, and looked through the window to see that there were still many people queuing up at the desk yesterday, and there was basically no one at the moment.

"How many shares are we acquiring now?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"In the past two days, almost 2% of the shares have been acquired, and many people are still reluctant to sell, presumably just to wait for Jardine Matheson's move, and now when it comes, it will be more difficult for us to acquire, even if our price increases, I am afraid there are still many people in a wait-and-see state." Zhou Jiayang, who had been following him, said.

"So we now have 39% of the stock?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, 39.13% to be exact." Zhou Jiayang replied.

"Since the price is so high now, let's stop the acquisition first, find a way to get some of the current shareholders of Wharf, as long as we can win over 11% of the shareholders and let them support me at the shareholders' meeting, then I can also gain control of Wharf." Chen Zhiwen said calmly.

Looking at the world, it is estimated that there are very few business cases that want to buy half of the shares of the other company's shares at a low price, and Jardine Matheson is not a fool, and Chen Zhiwen does not expect to be able to easily acquire 49.9% of the shares.

But if you want to gain control, you need to get the support of more than 50% of the shares, not necessarily you have to hold it yourself, as long as you convince some shareholders, it is enough.

Once the Jardine Matheson Group is driven out at the shareholders' meeting and he becomes the actual controller of Wharf, then he can let Wharf carry out a private placement of shares at a reasonable price to achieve 49.9% absolute control.

This operation, whether it is cost or efficiency, may be much stronger than the later Bao Yugang as hard to carry Jardine, the later generation of Bao Yugang did not have this opportunity, because his stock is only 30% at most, and the Jardine Group has a very strong control over Wharf, and it is difficult for Bao Yugang to find 20% of the shareholders to support him, after all, before this, Bao Yugang has not run a real estate company, and it is difficult to persuade so many shareholders at the shareholders' meeting to prove that he will have stronger real estate industry management capabilities than Jardine.

"Okay, I've got a list of shareholders ready, they're all small shareholders, and it may take a while to convince them." Zhou Jiayang said.

In the middle of last year, he had already begun to investigate the information of Wharf's shareholders, but he could not expose the matter at that time, nor could he contact them.

At this moment, an assistant of Zhou Jiayang trotted over and said: "Chen Sheng, hello, just now the office of the secretary of the board of directors received a call from HSBC, and Shen Bi, chairman of HSBC, invited you to move to the hotel for coffee in two days, but he also said that he was accompanied by Jardine Matheson's Niu Bijian. ”

(End of chapter)