Reborn Tycoon Rise

After a sumptuous dinner, Chen Songqing and Bao Fuda personally escorted Xu Zhi and his party to the car.

The convoy left the hotel and was soon on the elevated highway.

Yuan Tianfan sat next to Xu Zhi and asked: "Chairman, although there is not enough evidence, Jianing Group's financial affairs must have serious problems. There is a consensus on this in the banking industry in Xiangjiang. We are like this now. Will it increase the bank’s risks?”

"Then can you force Chen Songqing to increase the collateral? Or can you force him to pay back the money immediately?" Xu Zhi asked with a smile. Everyone in Xiangjiang knew that there was a problem with Jianing Group, but currently Jianing is still operating normally. When trying to pay a loan, in the absence of irrefutable evidence, the bank only tries to reduce its own risks, hoping that Jianning can increase the collateral, but there are basically no successful cases.

If it is a small company and not well-known, then the bank can also use force and force the company to go to court to sue. But Jianing is a large group, and its legal team is no worse than that of a bank. If it really takes a lot of trouble, I'm afraid that after the real estate crisis is over, the court may not be able to get a result.

Banks also do business, and Jianing Group is a big customer. If they really fall out, they will no longer want to do business in the future. More importantly, this kind of practice will be eliminated from the Hong Kong business community. The real estate company only encounters some difficulties, but your bank is so aggressive. Who will dare to ask you for a loan in the future?

Of course, the main reason is that no one knows the extent of Jia Ning's problems at present. If the time comes when the tree falls and the animals are scattered, no matter how ruthless the bank is, no one will say anything.

"Even if there is no way to obtain a higher mortgage, we should not continue to lend a third loan and let them continue to build Jianing Building. This is too risky." Yuan Tianfan said.

Land and Carin have two large loans from the Bank of East Asia. One is the acquisition funds for the Miramar Hotel, and the other is the construction cost of the Carita Building. The former is a one-time payment and has been loaned out long ago, while the construction of the latter The fees are paid in batches, with a total amount of nearly HK$5 billion.

In addition to using their own land or construction properties as loans, the two projects also mortgaged part of Land and Carin's stocks. After the Iron Lady's fall, the Hong Kong stock market plummeted. Naturally, Land and Carin could not escape this fate. The own stocks used as collateral were The land and land prices have fallen a lot, which is the fundamental reason why the Bank of East Asia requires the two major groups to increase their collateral.

After the previous negotiation, after Xu Zhi got what he wanted, he agreed not to increase the collateral and would allocate the third construction fee in time. This is what Yuan Tianfan is worried about.

"Risk? Of course there is, but our two loans have mutual guarantees from Land and Caring. Even if Caring has a problem, are you still afraid that Land cannot afford to repay it?" Xu Zhi said with a smile.

Although he knew that Jiali was bound to go bankrupt, he still admired Chen Songqing because next year, after the stock market fund-raising was rejected, Chen Songqing actually persuaded HSBC to lend Jiali 250 million Hong Kong dollars for debt restructuring. , this kind of operation, it is really a pity not to become a politician.

Yuan Tianfan replied: "Chairman, Land's foundation is indeed much stronger, but it owes more money. The land at Exchange Plaza, the Carin Building project, the Miramar Hotel project, plus dozens of small and medium-sized account investments, Land Land The total liabilities may be close to 20 billion Hong Kong dollars. According to the current housing prices, this amount is close to the total assets of Land. Moreover, based on the current interest rate, Land’s profit model is not enough to pay such a large loan in the long term. I am worried that Land will eventually Insolvency may also occur.”

"You look down on the Jardine Group so much." Xu Zhi smiled and said, "Don't worry, if it gets to that point, Jardine will definitely come to the rescue. Do you really think that a company that has been in Hong Kong for hundreds of years will be so easy?" Are you just going to reveal your trump card?"

Any family or consortium that has been passed down for a long time will not put all its assets in the open. Even newly wealthy people like Xu Zhi have begun to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in assets overseas. Of course, this money is not Instead of leaving it in the bank to earn interest, I bought a lot of high-quality stocks to preserve their value and hide them for emergencies.

The same is true for the Jardine Matheson Group. As early as the 1950s, due to the confiscation of a large number of assets in the mainland, the Jardine Matheson Group had long begun to pursue the policy of "making money in Hong Kong and developing overseas" out of fear.

Over the past decades, Jardine Matheson has extracted huge profits from various major businesses in Xiangjiang, transferred them overseas, and invested in the development of various businesses. Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australia have investments from Jardine Matheson Group, covering mining, agriculture, animal husbandry, energy, Automotive, construction, shipping and dozens of other industries.

But it was not until the early 1980s that the Jardine Group discovered that its overseas development, which it had struggled with for decades, was still full of difficulties and suffered serious losses. However, many of its assets in Xiangjiang had become worth hundreds of millions due to the booming real estate market. It has become the core and most important asset of the entire Jardine Consortium.

The reason why Wharf was lost was because throughout the 1970s, due to huge losses in overseas investments, a large amount of Jardine Matheson's funds were siphoned off, and HSBC lent Bao Yugang 2.1 billion Hong Kong dollars in one go, which caused Wharf's collapse. Change of ownership.

After losing Wharf, Jardine Matheson Group learned from the pain and determined to develop real estate industry in Xiangjiang. At this time, Land began to expand on a large scale, which was Jardine's intention to build Land into the largest company in Xiangjiang and become the new flagship of Jardine Matheson Group. company.

It’s a pity that God’s calculations are not as good as those of man. An economic crisis destroyed the Land Group, but the overseas assets of the entire Jardines Group had little impact. The investments in these overseas assets may not be successful, and most of the projects are losing money. But if Jardines is willing For sale, it can easily be sold for billions of Hong Kong dollars.

In 1984 in the original history, Land suffered continuous huge losses, and Jardine Matheson Group was forced to sell a large number of overseas assets to save Land.

However, it is not yet an urgent moment. Due to diversification considerations and some political factors, it is not clear which is more important in the eyes of Jardine Matheson Group: Xiangjiang or overseas assets.

The difficulties faced by Land Land in 1983-84 were also due to this reason. It was not until the Sino-British negotiations made the future of Xiangjiang clear that Jardine shifted its focus back to Xiangjiang. Coupled with the recovery of the real estate market and the reduction of loan interest, Land Land successfully emerged. the shadow of crisis.

"Since the chairman is confident, I will immediately prepare to disburse the third batch of loans tomorrow." Yuan Tianfan nodded.

Xu Zhi said: "Yes, once I complete the transaction with them, I can allocate funds, but you have to keep an eye on this money and don't let them put it into other projects."

"No problem." Yuan Tianfan agreed.

Xu Zhi continued: "During this period, all real estate companies in Xiangjiang are having a hard time, and the same goes for banks. The current economic crisis has just begun. Both real estate companies and banks still have some surplus, but I estimate that they will wait until next year. Some companies with insufficient capital may be in trouble, especially banks. Sometimes, a piece of negative information can make some small banks bankrupt!"

"Chairman, do you mean we want to enter the market in the opposite direction?" Yuan Tianfan immediately understood what Xu Zhi meant. As early as when he took over the Bank of East Asia, he received an order to shrink mortgage loans, although the Bank of East Asia also invested a lot of money. Building branches but not doing the simplest thing - acquiring other banks.

The reply Yuan Tianfan received was to "wait", and obviously, the time has come now.

Xu Zhi smiled and said: "Yes, I estimate that such a major event as the Sino-British negotiation will inevitably have many twists and turns, and the duration will not be short. Let's just say that the Jiani Group is actually full of loopholes. Our Bank of East Asia has Land Land. Other banks do not have the guarantee of loan guarantees. As long as the Jianing problem breaks out and panic spreads, I don’t know how many financial institutions in Xiangjiang will be dragged to death."

Yuan Tianfan said: "I understand, I will keep an eye on all banks and wait for opportunities."

…

Early the next morning, Xu Zhi called Wang Liming and asked: "How many Land and Jardine shares do we currently have in our hands?"

"We have acquired 16% of Land's shares. I have purchased part of Jardine Matheson Group's shares from some British shareholders through a British investment bank. It is currently close to 12%. During this period, the stock prices of Jardine Matheson and Land have dropped. Quite a few, I have been trying my best to acquire them, but there are not many circulating shares in the market now, so it is difficult to acquire enough shares."

During this period of time, Wang Liming, apart from handling the Tin Shui Wai project, spent the rest of his time acquiring shares of some companies in Hong Kong for Xu Zhi, such as Sun Hung Kai Properties, New World Group, Wharf, Cheung Kong Holdings and other stocks. However, these were for investment purposes, and the only thing he could do was to What was acquired was the shares of Land and Jardine Matheson because it had a greater purpose.

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Not bad, better than I expected. Now Jardine Land has formed mutual equity control. Each party holds close to 40% of the other party's shares. They want to acquire something higher than this in the stock market." Stocks are basically impossible. If you continue to acquire stocks, it won’t matter if you are bolder and let them find out. Even if the people at Jardine find out that someone is making a hostile takeover, there is nothing they can do.”

As early as 1981, the Xiangjiang government promulgated a new "Commercial Acquisition Law". Whenever the second largest shareholder reaches 35% of the equity, it must propose a comprehensive acquisition.

The original major shareholder's equity shall not exceed 40%. Once it exceeds, a comprehensive acquisition offer must be made.

The premise of this law is that because British companies such as Hutchison Whampoa, Yingzhou Qingni, and Wharf were successively acquired by Chinese capital, the Hong Kong government, in order to protect the interests of British-funded consortiums, deliberately revised the proportion of comprehensive takeover offers from 50% It has dropped to 35%. This change makes hostile takeovers more difficult.

But on the surface, British-funded companies also have to abide by this rule. Therefore, Jardine Land's mutual holdings have reached the limit prescribed by law, and they can no longer increase each other's shares.

"It is true that Jardine Matheson cannot publicly increase its shares, but I am worried that it will trigger a sharp rise in the stock price and increase our costs." Wang Liming said.

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter, as long as the ultimate goal can be successful, and as long as we don't make it public, everything will be done in secret. Even if the stock price is high, it will not be as high as the increase when we make it public in the future. Taken together, It’s still a good deal.”

Wang Liming said: "Okay, then I will make arrangements immediately and try to acquire more shares."

…