Chapter 487 The temptation of British capital
After hearing this, Dai Linzhi agreed and said: "I also agree to solve this problem in a low-key manner, but the problem is how to solve it? What if he doesn't agree to give up?"
Not to mention the current timeline, even two years ago, if Yang Wendong had done this, it would have been difficult for the Hong Kong government to handle it; if he ignored it, he would offend the British capital, and if he managed it, he would offend the largest Chinese-funded consortium in Hong Kong.
Yang Wendong is not Huo Yingdong. It is not easy to suppress him. He has not expressed his position on left-right issues and is a centrist. If you suppress the centrists, then there will be no chaos?
Moreover, Yang Wendong controls a large number of jobs in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of young people from Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Island, Kwun Tong, Sha Tin, Kwai Chung and other places work for him to make a living. Behind him, there may be more than ten or two hundred thousand people who rely on Chang Hing Group to live a normal life. , and the company benefits are pretty good. If some of these people become unemployed, it will be a huge pressure on the Hong Kong government.
Even Yang Wendong has very good relations with the United Kingdom, Europe and many Asian countries. If things really get serious, the pressure from international public opinion will be great.
Sanders looked at everyone looking at him, then looked at Edward and said: "The internal board of directors of Golden Gate Group has agreed to the merger. It's a done deal and there's nothing we can do;
Now it's up to Huangpu Group. Edward, the opinions of your board of directors and management are very important. If you agree, we outsiders can't interfere forcefully. Only if you don't agree can we intervene. ”
Everyone else nodded in agreement, but the victim didn’t agree, so what else could they do?
Edward hesitated and said: "Mr. Sanders, I naturally don't want Yang Wendong to become a director of Huangpu Group, but he already has 16% of the shares. The company law has clearly stated that they have 1/5 of the director seats. We There is no reason to stop it internally.”
Regardless of whether they are British or Chinese, they must abide by the law. This is the most basic thing, even the governor of Hong Kong. Otherwise, if the law is unfairly upheld, the social system and trust system will collapse immediately.
Dai Linzhi also frowned after hearing this. He really had nothing to say. On the surface, the Hong Kong government still wanted to maintain British-owned and Chinese-owned capital.
Sanders thought for a while and said: "In that case, I will send someone to discuss with Yang Wendong and test his intentions. If he just wants to become a director and get a seat, it is now a done deal and there is nothing we can do.
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If he disagrees and wants to go further, then it is not convenient for the Hong Kong government to come forward directly. How about we come forward to help Huangpu repel Yang Wendong? ”
After the British giants present heard this, they also discussed with each other, but after a while no one expressed their position. No one was willing to spend a sum of money to help others for no reason.
Sanders seemed to have known that this would be the case, so he said: "Everyone, this is also to protect the interests of our British capital. The Chinese have a saying that a thousand-mile dike breaks in an ant nest. Once a British capital is forcibly acquired by Chinese capital, Success, then with the development speed of Chinese capital in the past ten years, who can guarantee that they will not be next?”
"Then how can I help?" asked a ghost guy.
Sanders said: "If Yang Wendong still wants to further increase capital in Huangpu, then while Edward still has management rights and the support of a majority of the board of directors, let Huangpu Group directly increase capital and expand shares to dilute his shares;
In terms of fees, I will give you some loans at low interest rates. ”
"Low interest rates are not a problem, the problem is the stock price of Whampoa Group. What will happen in the future?" Another person said: "Now the world is beginning to containerize, and the only container terminal in Hong Kong is still in the hands of Changxing Group. What do you think about Whampoa Group? The future of stocks will not be good.”
Others are also talking about it. Of course they are not happy to invest in a project that is bound to lose money.
Edward's expression was filled with hatred when he heard the discussion, but he could not object. Containerization of terminals was indeed a future trend, but the Huangpu Group had declined, and its scale was far smaller than that of companies such as Jardine Matheson and Swire. It was extremely difficult to invest in a terminal.
Of course, even these two companies dare not invest at this time of year, for fear that the huge amount of money will be spent and turn into blisters, otherwise the container terminal will not be able to turn to Yang Wendong.
Dai Linzhi also knew that there was no way to explain it in a short time, so he said: "Okay, everyone, that's it for today. Let's test Yang Wendong's attitude first. If he agrees, that will be better. If he doesn't agree, we will discuss what to do next. How to do it.”
Everyone agreed that it was okay. It wasn't yet to the point where they were asked to pay, so there was really no need to argue.
In this way, the Hong Kong Governor ordered the meeting to end, and all representatives of British-owned enterprises left, leaving only Sanders.
Dai Linzhi said: "Sanders, don't talk about this matter in person. If it causes embarrassment, just send someone to go there, but the status must be appropriate."
"I know." Sanders said, "I have already thought about who to send. Shen Bi, the head of our bank's credit business, also often contacts Changxing Group. He has also met Yang Wendong, so he has some dealings with him." . ’
"Okay." Dai Linzhi nodded. He didn't know who Shen Bi was. Sanders could just arrange it himself.
Outside the Hong Kong Governor's House, William Keswick glanced at his younger brother and said: "How is Yee Fung Supermarket doing lately?"
John Keswick took a pause, but still replied: "It's not very good. The economy itself is not good, and Carrefour is also losing money and engaging in price wars and publicity wars. It's very passive."
"John, this is not an option if we continue like this." William shook his head and said: "Yang Wendong is now targeting British capital, and I suspect there is someone behind him;
Now he has begun to invest heavily in tunnels, ports, and real estate. It is very radical. If this continues, Landlord will no longer be able to support Yifeng. We, Yifeng itself, have suffered serious losses. I am planning to sell a building to ease the economy. pressure. "The biggest asset of Land is the large number of buildings in Central, but it is not held debt-free. In previous years, a large amount of debt was repaid by rent. But this year, many tenants ran away directly, leaving behind the funds to pay It is only 20 to 30% of previous years, which has caused huge financial pressure
"Selling the building? That's not a problem, is it?" John asked in shock.
William thought for a while and said: "It's not just about financial considerations, but also being able to cash out and leave Hong Kong is also a safety guarantee."
"That's okay." John no longer objected and asked: "Then you mean to give up Yifeng Supermarket? But if you give up, tens of millions of investments in the past few years will be in vain, and once Carrefour Control all supermarkets in Hong Kong and we will never have a chance again.”
"I also know it's a loss, but we did make a mistake when we entered the supermarket industry. I didn't expect Changxing Group to develop so fast, and I didn't expect there would be today's economic crisis." William sighed and said, "Keyi He has a lot of assets, and now it needs to shrink, either Yifeng or other assets, which one do you think we should choose?”
When Carrefour was first established, Jardine Group was keenly aware of this business opportunity and got involved.
It’s just that the Changxing Group at that time could only be said to be at an average level among Chinese companies, not as good as Hang Seng, Liao Chong Hing Bank, the He family or the Guo family. But who would have thought that Yang Wendong’s development speed would be so fast, and he would accomplish a lot in just a few years. The wealth accumulation process of a family over decades and generations.
John was silent for a moment. He also knew that many of the assets owned by the Jardine Matheson Group were of very high quality. Relatively speaking, he was really not good at this. He had been facing pressure from Carrefour from the beginning until now. He rarely made a profit. This was still in the case of real estate rent reduction and exemption. case.
So he asked: ‘Then what do you want me to do? ’
William said: "Sell Yifeng to Carrefour for a better price, which will reduce the loss. Otherwise, it will be a huge loss if we just close the door."
"What if Yang Wendong doesn't want it?" John asked.
William said: "Then find a way to sell it to Japanese or American capital. Some of them still dare to invest."
John nodded and said: "Okay, let me try."
October 26th.
Yang Wendong met with an "acquaintance" at the Changxing Building headquarters, Shen Bi of HSBC Group.
Yang Wendong has never thought about trying to please this future HSBC executive, because there is a high probability that by the time he comes to power, his industry will have already gone overseas. However, there is no need to offend him, as long as he has some connections.
"Hello, Yang Sheng." Shen Bi shook hands politely.
"Shen Bi, long time no see." Yang Wendong also shook hands and gestured: "Sit down."
Assistant Xiaoying quickly served the coffee. Shen Bi took a sip and praised: "Good coffee."
"Shen Bi, if you like it, I'll give you some." Yang Wendong smiled, and then asked directly: "I don't know why you came here today?"
Shen Bi put down his coffee cup and said: "Yang Sheng, I am here today. First of all, I want to thank Changxing Real Estate and Changxing Infrastructure for their cooperation with HSBC during this period. I hope that we can still maintain such a cooperative relationship in the future."
Over the past year, the economic crisis has led to a decrease in consumption and investment in Hong Kong. Even the "quasi central bank" HSBC is a little unable to handle this situation. Too many people save money and too few people borrow. No bank can handle this. ah.
Yang Wendong's strong investment and acquisition helped HSBC solve this problem. Although the interest given by infrastructure projects is not high, HSBC has not earned much, it is much stronger than letting the deposit put in the bank to eat interest. It's all HSBC's money.
"I also hope to maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with HSBC, which is good for both of us." Yang Wendong replied.
When doing real estate business in Hong Kong, the best partner is naturally HSBC. Even if Yang Wendong has a good relationship with foreign banks, he would not borrow foreign exchange to do real estate. That would be too stupid.
Shen Bi then said: "Yang Sheng, the second thing is for me to ask on my behalf, what is the purpose of your investment in Huangpu Group?"
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of chapter)