July 28, Sunny:

The air conditioning of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been turned on to the lowest, but the mood of everyone inside is like a crater, and many people are already shouting excitedly.

It turned out that a few days ago, when the World Sugar King announced the acquisition of the hotel, he rented a position on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and bought the shares of the hotel in cash for 70 Hong Kong dollars a share, which aroused the interest of a bunch of people, and many people were eager to sell their shares.

However, in the afternoon of the same day, the Kadoorie family also made the same move, renting a position on the other side of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and acquiring it for HK$72 a share, which naturally made countless shareholders "think differently" and immediately threw themselves into the new embrace.

However, the purchasing office on the Kadoorie family's side is very inefficient, and the transaction is relatively slow, almost three times that of the next door, but for more money, many people are still willing to wait, besides, there are more people waiting for the new trick of the sugar king, and because of this, stock trading has become slower.

Until this morning, the position of the "Sugar King" changed to a brand again: "75 Hong Kong dollars per share, cash acquisition, quick decision".

As soon as many shareholders saw the sign, they immediately ran over and threw the Kadoorie family aside.

Michael Kadoorie, who was hiding behind the scenes, saw all this in front of him, his face darkened again, and said, "What the hell is this Guo Henian? Is a big hotel group worth it for him to spend so much money to acquire? ”

The younger brother Henry Kadoorie said: "According to the information checked by my friends in Southeast Asia, the financial resources of this Guo Henian may be far above us, which may not be too much financial pressure for him. ”

"This is not a matter of financial pressure, but whether it is worth it, although the scale of the hotel is not small, but among so many listed companies in Hong Kong, it is not very dazzling, and a Peninsula Hotel is more famous, others, and nothing, this Guo Henian, I can understand that I want to forcibly acquire the hotel, but at any cost, to 75 Hong Kong dollars a share to acquire, which is far more than the value of the hotel itself, with this money, to acquire other companies is more cost-effective." Michael Kadoorie said with a frown.

In fact, he has long known that his strength is far lower than Guo Henian, Guo Henian is the richest man in Malaysia, and his Kadoorie family, but also one of the top ten richest families in Hong Kong, although Hong Kong's per capita wealth exceeds that of Malaysia, but Malay is a populous country, and the financial resources of the richest man in the local area and the resources behind it are definitely not something that the Kadoorie family can confront them.

The only advantage is that this acquisition war takes place in Hong Kong, and as long as the price is high, the other party will naturally give up if it is not cost-effective, and no one will do loss-making business.

"There are two explanations, I have also heard that Guo Henian wants to invest in Hong Kong, so he wants to take the opportunity of this acquisition to achieve this purpose, if this time it fails because of a little problem, then it will be difficult to succeed in Hong Kong, the acquisition of our listed companies, the stock price will rise sharply, and the acquisition of other listed companies will also encounter the same problem, so for Guo Henian, this time must be successful, the second possibility is Guo Henian's personal hobby, he may be interested in the Peninsula Hotel, Therefore, he was determined to acquire the Grand Hotel Group. Henry Kadoorie analyzed.

"Both of these speculations are possible, but either one is very bad for us." Michael Kadoorie said with a frown.

"Now that we have come to this point, we have no way out, we have 800 million Hong Kong dollars in cash in our hands, if we really smash it like this, Guo Henian's side wants to win, at least more than one billion, and the stock price will rise sharply, no matter what reason Guo Henian has to bite us like this, but as long as we show an attitude of not giving up, when the cost is too high, he will definitely give up." Henry Kadoorie said.

"It's okay for you to say that, but even if we repel Guo Henian, our losses will be so great that our family has not seen for decades." Michael Kadoorie said with a frown.

"There is no way to do this, if we are attacked by big conglomerates, it is impossible to get out of the way, unless we admit defeat and sell our shares to each other." Henry Kadoorie said.

"This is impossible, The Peninsula is our family heritage, and no matter how big the price is, we have to keep it." Michael Kadoorie took a deep breath and said that the biggest wealth of the hotel is the Peninsula Hotel, which must also be Guo Henian's fancy, otherwise, other properties of the hotel group such as Kowloon Hotel, Repulse Bay Shadow Garden, Johnson Building, etc., can be discussed, if others really want to buy at a high price, Michael Kadoorie feels that the other party is regarded as God.

"Then we have to fight." Henry Kadoorie said.

"Then we will raise the purchase price to 78, I want to see if Guo Henian still follows." Michael Kadoorie said.

"Okay, I'll do it." Henry Kadoorie was instructed to speak.

"Kadoorie has increased the price to 80 Hong Kong dollars a share, brothers, hurry up!"

"Sugar King's side is 82!"

"Kadoorie is 84 here!"

In the continuous price increase, many shareholders who have not sold their stocks are smiling, and those who have already made a move are angry and stomp their feet, hating that they made a move too early.

Two days later, the purchase price of Sugar King has been as high as 87 Hong Kong dollars, which is almost before the outbreak of the acquisition war, 3 times the stock price of the hotel, this acquisition war, can be said to be the most exciting acquisition war since 1972 after the land to drink milk, how many shareholders have made a lot of money, but compared with Chen Zhiwen's several acquisitions, much more interesting.

Of course, in terms of stock gains, it is still far less than the stock of Dairy Farm back then.

CLP Group Headquarters:

"Big brother, what now? This Guo Henian is simply crazy, but this price has been acquiring, and more than half of the funds in our hands have been consumed, do you want to continue? Henry Kadoorie asked with an ugly face.

Even more ugly than his face was Michael Kadoorie, he didn't expect Guo Henian to be so crazy, and he would buy the hotel almost at all costs, but when it came to this situation, he couldn't hold it anymore and asked: "Can you know how many shares Guo Henian has in his hands?" ”

"I don't know, but I've recently acquired at least a dozen percent." Henry Kadoorie said.

"Ten percent! In the style of Chinese acquisitions, if you don't have a certain number of shares in your hands, you won't do it publicly, that is, Guo Henian may already have almost 30% of the shares in his hands, which is almost the threshold of triggering the takeover offer. Michael Kadoorie said.

"We now have 20% in our hands, and in the current situation, it is impossible to withdraw even if we want to." Henry Kadoorie naturally understood what his eldest brother meant, if it was before, the shares of both sides were not as much as now, if one party was willing to sell the shares in his hand, then the other party would be happy to take over, and even the high price was no problem.

But now, the two sides have each smashed hundreds of millions, cheapened a bunch of shareholders or speculative institutions, and the two sides have a lot of shares in their hands, and it is impossible to take over each other's shares, because once they take over, it will trigger the acquisition offer, and with the current stock price, they are not allowed to go bankrupt?

It's just that this is a dead knot, and it is impossible for the Kadoorie family to give up their ancestral business when there is no absolute loss of hope, but now when there seems to be little hope, they can't get rid of it.

"Since you can't retreat, let's continue, Guo Henian's acquisition speed is also much slower, obviously the financial pressure is also very high, everyone will consume it first, let's see who consumes whom." Michael Kadoorie frowned and said that in the acquisition cases in Hong Kong or other places, there are not many that can be acquired in a short time, and most of them will take a long time, because the stock will be pulled to a very high price, and everyone is not stupid, so they slowly wait for the opportunity, and wait until the time is long, the stock price falls, and then it depends on who is stronger.

"That's okay, in fact, even if Guo Henian acquires 34.9%, he may not necessarily win, and we still have a chance at the shareholders' meeting." Henry Kadoorie said that the Hong Kong government's revised threshold for triggering the takeover offer is to protect their group of British-funded enterprises, but in the past two years, Chen Zhiwen has brought too much pressure to British capital, but it has also indirectly protected the Kadoorie family.

"Also, at the shareholders' meeting, we still have a lot of people, and we haven't made any big mistakes over the years, and shareholders don't necessarily support outsiders." Michael Kadoorie said.

"However, there are still problems in terms of funds, if we have been acquiring at this strength, I am afraid that the cash in our hands will not last long, and if we want to find an emergency loan from the bank, we will not be able to do it in a short time." Henry Kadoorie said.

"CLP still has a lot of money in his account, and I can use it if there is an emergency." Michael Kadoorie said.

"There's nothing risky about that, is it?" Henry asked.

Michael Kadoorie said: "Don't worry, I have a number, and it won't affect CLP." ”

"That's fine." Henry Kadoorie nodded and said.

On the other side, Guo Henian came to the Hilton Hotel, met Chen Zhiwen and Bao Yugang again, and said: "Both, I have acquired 34.9% of the shares of the hotel, and several shareholders have been persuaded by me, do you need to announce it now and hold a general meeting of shareholders?" ”

Bao Yugang said: "Guo Sheng, don't do it for the time being, I'm going to buy the shares of the hotel." ”

"You acquire? It's useless, is it? If this is done, once the Hong Kong government or the court finds out, it is very likely that we belong to the same acquisition team, and the takeover offer will be triggered? Guo Henian frowned and said.

The takeover offer, whether it is the current 35% requirement or the previous 50% requirement, many people think that there is a loophole in this, for example, one party acquires 34.9%, and the other party acquires 16%, isn't it successful?

But in reality, this is not recognized by the court at all, and once it is sued, it will only be judged that it belongs to the same party, and then the takeover offer will be triggered. Unless one party has acquired the shares and publicly admits that it has more than two more years, then it can be regarded as a normal shareholder, and then cooperate with the acquirer, it may be successful, but the time cost is too high, and the company's controller is not a fool, and suddenly there is a major shareholder, which will only cause alarm.

"So I contributed funds, and Guo Sheng and you continued to buy, now no one knows how many shares you have, just treat it as if it has not reached 34.9%, and when it is announced in the future, this extra acquisition of shares will not exist." Bao Yugang said with a smile.

"Understood, Bao Sheng wants to consume the funds in Kadoorie's hands first, right?" Guo Henian understood Bao Yugang's intentions and said with a smile.

(End of chapter)