Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 399 [Preparing to take over Guoshang]

Hong Kong media have reported that Mr. Lin Zuhui intends to take over China Commercial Bank and is negotiating with the Hong Kong government.

However, some media pointed out that China Commercial Bank may still have nearly 20 billion unrecorded debts overseas, which is the biggest obstacle to this negotiation.After all, almost no consortium is willing to bear such a large burden.

Some media also pointed out that Mr. Lin Zuhui, as the richest man in Hong Kong, could not bear to see the depositors of China Commercial Bank lose their money. It would take several years to get back part of their deposits, so he considered intervening.

Some media pointed out that if the new consortium intervenes in China Commercial Bank (Hong Kong), it will have to prepare for a "loss" of nearly 50 billion in order to save China Commercial Bank.

For a time, public opinion was in an uproar.

The depositors of China Commercial Bank pinned their hopes on Lin Zuhui one after another, and the Xiangjiang public opinion circle even raised Lin Zuhui's status infinitely. Everyone hoped that Lin Zuhui would take over this hot potato.

Of course, Lin Zuhui would not agree to the acquisition right away. The time limit for "provisional liquidation" of China Commercial Bank is five months, so why should he be in a hurry.

Therefore, he wants to wait for the overseas unrecorded creditors of China Commercial Bank to appear before considering whether to buy or not.

However, he has not made up his mind to make an acquisition, and contacting the Hong Kong government is just a normal business practice;
He needs to carefully weigh the pros and cons, and bargain hard with the Hong Kong government.

If it doesn't work, he actually has other options, such as the "Wing On Bank" in the hands of Hang Seng Bank, which is also a choice; and the Overseas Trust Bank in the hands of the Hong Kong government, I believe he also has great hopes.

Time flies, and two weeks pass in a blink of an eye.

Beginning of November.

Lin Zuhui came to Hengjin Investment, and both George and Bruce returned to Hong Kong to report to him.

Qiaohui reported: "In April, the S&P 4 futures index has been delivered, and the delivery index is 500 points. We bought an average index of 380 points, a total of 317 lots. The profit of each lot was 25000 US dollars, and the total profit was 1.5 million US dollars (3.75 billion US dollars) billion Hong Kong dollars), and 29.25 billion funds can be withdrawn.”

Lin Zuhui nodded in satisfaction. Although there was a slight deviation, it was also expected.

"Return the funds to the Hengjin Investment Xiangjiang account as soon as possible. I need to acquire the bank here. In the future, this kind of financial investment will be completed in my investment bank. Therefore, Hengjin Investment will become the investment bank of my bank. You have to be ready to continue to be in charge of my investment banking business."

To put it bluntly, it will be merged, and his future financial consortium will include commercial banks, investment banks, and securities companies.

I didn't plan to be an insurance company. The reason is very simple. Xiangjiang's insurance business is monopolized by London insurance companies, and local insurance companies are basically at a loss.The most important thing in insurance is reputation, and those insurance companies that have been around for hundreds of years have natural advantages.

What's more, Lin Zuhui's acquisition of the bank was just to assist him in personal investment in financial products.

George nodded excitedly. He knew Lin Zuhui's ability and believed that the financial consortium of the Lin family would grow bigger and bigger.

"Okay, boss!"

Then, Bruce reported the investment situation of the family office to Lin Zuhui. Generally speaking, the investment department of the family office is not as busy as Hengjin Investment, but several investment managers of the family office are Lin Zuhui's personal financial consultants, and they also supervise Hengjin Investment by the way. .

After Bruce reported his work, he said to Lin Zuhui: "Citibank and Oracle, the stocks of these two companies are still not optimistic, and they are still falling. If the boss wants to buy the bottom, we have analyzed it. The best time is the second half of the year." Opportunity."

Lin Zuhui nodded. He was also clear. He remembered that the stock price of Citibank fell to more than 8 US dollars. It is currently only 10 US dollars, which shows that there is still room for decline.
As for the 4.9% of Citibank stock he invested in earlier, it has been diluted to about 3%, with a total of 1660 million shares, which has resulted in a loss of more than 3000 million US dollars.

But it doesn't matter, it's a long-term investment anyway, and Citibank and Oracle will turn around next year.What's more, he has also become an ally with Citibank to facilitate future investment in the United States.

Lin Zuhui said: "Okay, I will save these two stocks for the second half of the year before buying bottoms. I have also started to get tight on funds recently!"

In the final analysis, he still wants to take China Commercial Bank and Overseas Trust Bank into his pocket, which may require 70 billion to 80 billion funds.

Moreover, he has recently formed a banking team. He has dug three senior bank executives in Xiangjiang, including Li Huimin of Hang Seng Bank; in addition, he has also dug two senior bank executives overseas, one Chinese and one foreigner; Together with his financial advisors, he believes that once he takes over the bank, the management can be put on the right track immediately.

Sure enough, China Commercial Bank suddenly poured out about 18 billion Hong Kong dollars in unrecorded debts. For a while, Huaren Bank (Chinese-funded background), which had intended to take over, immediately announced its withdrawal.The last hope is that Lin Zuhui has not yet expressed his position.

As for the depositors of the China Commercial Bank, they can't wait to confess Lin Zuhui at this time, hoping that he will accept the China Commercial Bank.

Lin Zuhui brought people again to the Financial Secretary.

In the meeting room, Lin Zuhui said: "Director Cui, our team has changed its mind and hopes to buy Overseas Trust Bank from the Hong Kong government."

Lin Zuhui changed his strategy and planned to start with overseas trust banks.Of course, he also wants to win the 'China Commercial Bank'. After all, this bank has more than 30 branches and has a very wide range of businesses; but the loss is too large, and now it looks like it is in the early 40 billion.

It is slightly better than history, probably because Lin Zuhui let this thunder explode in advance.

Cui Kecheng immediately shook his head and said, "Lin Sheng, it's not time for Overseas Trust Bank to be sold. We are talking about China Commercial Bank now. Moreover, we hope to find an experienced team for Overseas Trust Bank!"

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "China Commercial Bank even feels troublesome to the Hong Kong government, let alone me as a businessman. As for the experienced team you mentioned, I have already formed them. They are all top executives in Hong Kong. Even you I also have two London bankers joining my team."

Although the overseas trust bank also has a historical cumulative loss of 16 billion, it is currently in a profitable state. Last year, it made a profit of more than 3 million. In theory, it can "turn losses into profits" in four to five years.

The subsequent discussion between the two parties did not go smoothly. Lin Zuhui also put out the idea of ​​acquiring China Commercial Bank, and planned to acquire Wing On Bank of Hang Seng Bank. It is cheap and only needs a few hundred million Hong Kong dollars.

Although the scale is small, and the deposit is estimated to be more than 20 billion, it can be regarded as entering this field anyway.

Just when Lin Zuhui was about to give up, Zhuo Sheng from the Banking Supervisory Office whispered a few words in Cui Kecheng's ear, which seemed to be a compromise.

After a while, Cui Kecheng said: "Mr. Lin seems to be very sincere in entering the banking industry, and we also want to handle the matter of China Commercial Bank, so we have a proposal. If Mr. Lin handles the matter of China Commercial Bank well, Overseas Trust Bank can sell it first." Here you go!"

Lin Zuhui smiled and said: "Director Cui, it seems that sincerity is not enough. If the Hong Kong government really wants to deal with the matter of China Commercial Bank, I will be able to resolve the matter satisfactorily this month. For this, I have prepared 70 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash The China Commercial Bank may be able to solve it perfectly with only 50 billion yuan, so how about buying the overseas trust bank for the remaining 20 billion Hong Kong dollars?"

He knew the price of the overseas trust bank. It was sold for 43 billion in his previous life, although it was two years later.The bank itself is of great value. Talents, licenses, networks, etc. are all invisible assets.

The Hong Kong government officials were taken aback. They didn't expect Lin Zuhui to have such a large amount of cash. It is likely that Li Chaoren would not be able to give half of the cash!
Next, the two had a heated discussion, you said what you said, and finally reached a preliminary agreement.

The content is roughly: Lin Zuhui's team took over the 'China Commercial Bank', assumed all the debts, and quelled the impact of this incident; the Hong Kong government sold the 'Overseas Trust Bank' to the Lin Zuhui team early next year at an agreed price of 25 billion Hong Kong dollars.

In order to save overseas trust banks, the Hong Kong government took out 20 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash. Now it has sold 25 billion, which is considered a slight profit and will not be criticized.

In Lin Zuhui's view, even if the overseas trust bank is sold in two years, it will not be his turn; because, because he has no experience in dealing with Hong Kong's problem banks.The Guoco Group, a Southeast Asian capital, took over the Hang Lung Bank from the Hong Kong government a few years ago, and handled it better, so such a consortium is the Hong Kong government's favorite.

Moreover, next year it will be sold to its own overseas trust bank at a price of 25 billion Hong Kong dollars, which is equivalent to saving 20 billion.In this way, there is no loss in dealing with China Commercial Bank.

Of course, these transactions require the participation of lawyers in order to form effective documents.

Furama Hotel.

Hundreds of representatives of large depositors of China Commercial Bank attended a meeting with anxiety and excitement.

Originally, China Commercial Bank had 45000 depositors, but after the bank run occurred and the Hong Kong government advanced 20 billion Hong Kong dollars to distribute deposits to depositors below 50 Hong Kong dollars, there are still about 5000 large depositors left.

After reaching a preliminary agreement with the Hong Kong government, Lin Zuhui's team was not in a hurry to sign a formal contract with the Hong Kong government, but advertised in the media that the China Commercial Bank incident was expected to be acquired by the Lin Zuhui family.Then, let large depositors select more than 500 representatives to participate in this consultation meeting.

"Hi Lin Sheng!"

"Hi Lin Sheng!"

But when Lin Zuhui brought his team to the hall, the depositors of China Commercial Bank greeted excitedly.

Lin Zuhui smiled and nodded to everyone, and gestured.

He walked to the arranged position on the rostrum and sat down with a group of consultants.

"Everyone, I have called you this time to discuss with you! This time I do plan to acquire China Commercial Bank and assume all the debts and responsibilities, but I have great concerns." Lin Zuhui said through the microphone.

Hearing Lin Zuhui said that he had great concerns, everyone became chaotic, and was soon controlled by Lin Zuhui's team, and designated someone to speak.

"Mr. Lin, I don't know what you are worried about?" A large depositor stood up and said.

Lin Zuhui smiled and said, "You are a judge, right? Huang Qilin?"

The large depositor nodded quickly. He had cooperated with New Era Group many times, but he didn't expect that Lin Zuhui only met him once and wrote down his name.

Lin Zuhui went on to say: "It's very simple. I didn't buy China Commercial Bank for charity, but I thought it was a long-term investment, although it would cost me 50 billion in the short term. Therefore, I was worried that once I took over, China Commercial Bank It reopened, and there was a run again. I have plenty of money, and billions of dollars are nothing to me, but the credit problem of China Commercial Bank is in a slump. Then it doesn’t make much sense for me to buy it!”

At this time, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and someone raised his hand and said, "Mr. Lin, if we have your guarantee, we can promise that we will not withdraw the deposit until the time limit expires."

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "I bought the China Commercial Bank, which is the biggest guarantee. I will not do things that damage my reputation. But what you said is very reasonable. You should give me a promise, that is, the deposit has not expired. Before, you large households could not withdraw. In this way, you can also avoid loss of interest, and China Commercial Bank can also restore its reputation. After all, you choose to trust China Commercial Bank, so that citizens can choose to continue to put their deposits in China Commercial Bank !"

"I agree! At first we had no hope, but now we have the guarantee of Mr. Lin, the richest Chinese man, what are we afraid of?"

"Yes, Mr. Lin's reputation is unmatched by Xiangjiang, and I also promise not to withdraw the deposit before it expires!"

Everyone almost unanimously agreed with Lin Zuhui's suggestion, so the meeting was very successful.

Of course, there is no basis for his words, Lin Zuhui will publish in the newspaper and ask all depositors of China Commercial Bank to go to the China Commercial Bank branch to register, and sign a letter of commitment by the way.

In this way, a tripartite cooperation was formed to satisfactorily resolve the Guoshang incident.

(End of this chapter)