Chapter 897 The Changing Situation
“Of course he doesn’t, but some people do.”
“Vincent?”
Foch smiled and nodded.
"Xu, it seems that the shares you gave him failed to impress him."
"On the contrary, I'm sure he wanted to get more shares of the Pacific Fund, otherwise it would have ended long ago, instead of letting Lagardère jump out and take the lead.
But I didn't expect it. It’s this guy who is more greedy than I thought.
Not only wants the shares of Pacific Fund, but also plans to swallow up Vivendi.”
“The greed of businessmen has no limits, and here. It's France. The Bollore family has deep roots and great influence. Of course Vincent will feel that he can handle everything
Including you!"
Xu Liang nodded.
"It seems that it is necessary for me to break Mr. Bolore's fantasy."
Paused.
Xu Liang turned around.
"Foch, according to the regulations. The board of directors cannot directly interfere with Vivendi's operations, and you should have the right to sell the Canal+ Group directly."
"Of course I have this power, but the Bollore family, combined with the Lagardère family, has reached 24.2% of the equity, and I know that the Bollore family is still absorbing Vivendi's equity through shadow accounts. < br>
No one knows how much equity he holds in Vivendi.
But one thing is certain.
If the Bolore family and the Lagardère family unite.
They must be the largest shareholder of Vivendi Group and have the power to intervene in major company affairs, and even directly appoint and remove the group CEO
Therefore, I cannot get rid of the board of directors and force the sale of Canal+ Group.
In this case, I will soon be kicked out by Bolore using his influence on the board of directors.
Without my cooperation in Vivendi, your acquisition of Vivendi will be more tortuous, and you may even lose the opportunity to acquire it. "
Looking at Jean Foch, who was talking eloquently and looking like a loyal guard, Xu Liang suddenly smiled.
"Jean, you have indeed considered everything comprehensively.
But this situation cannot go on forever. ”
“Of course. "
Jean Foch continued.
"Now we have only one choice.
Mr. Xu directly acquires Vivendi’s equity. As long as you become Vivendi’s major shareholder, you will be able to take full control of the initiative. ”
"I'm afraid Vincent will not allow us to become Vivendi's major shareholder comfortably." Xu Liang said.
“This is a sure thing, but as the CEO of Vivendi, I have the management rights of the company and can dilute Vincent’s equity through private placement.”
Xu Liang Nodding slightly, "In this case, all our previous strategies will be overturned."
Foch understood what he meant.
When they were in London, the two people discussed the merger and acquisition strategy to acquire Canal+ Group first and then Vivendi Telecom to reduce the difficulty of acquiring Vivendi as a whole.
In fact, Xu Liangliang’s intention was to only acquire the Canal+ Group.
But now it has changed.
If Xu Liang directly acquires the equity of Vivendi, then the entire Vivendi Group will be acquired.
canal+ Group, Vivendi Telecom, Havas Group, Vivendi Network.
45% stake in Veolia Environnement;
11.5% stake in Ubisoft Games;
About 6.4% stake in Hongmeng Technology Company (Bing, Yihaodian, Sina, Hongmeng Games and Wangke);
Vivendi Risk investment funds, and the Vivendi startup incubator in partnership with SoftBank.
The total value of all these assets combined is close to 40 billion euros.
After calculating debt, Xu Liang would also need 20 billion euros if he wanted to acquire it wholly.
Of course, he didn't plan to acquire it entirely.
Just want to become a major shareholder.
But there is one thing.
According to French securities laws, a comprehensive acquisition agreement is triggered when the shareholding reaches 30%.
So, once he takes 30% of Vivendi's shares, he must prepare enough money to acquire the remaining 70%.
Of course, stockholders may not sell, but there will definitely be a lot of sales.
Calculate it according to half.
In the end, his shareholding also exceeded 65%.
This requires a huge sum of 13 billion euros.
Of course, this is still a conservative calculation.
Once the private placement is completed, not only Vincent Bolore's equity will be diluted, but also Xu Liang's own equity.
Give a simple example.
Vivendi’s total share capital is 100, and each share is worth 1 yuan.
Bolore and Xu Liang each hold 10% of Vivendi's shares.
If Xu Liang wants to become a major shareholder, he only needs to acquire another 40% of the shares, which is 40 yuan.
But Bolore didn't want to let go and competed with him for equity.
In order to dilute Bolore's equity, Foch is now issuing an additional 20 yuan to Xu Liang.
In this way, Vivendi’s total share capital becomes 120 yuan.
Xu Liang and Bo Luore, who originally held 10% of the shares each, had their shares diluted to 0.83%.
Because Xu Liangduo invested 20 yuan, his actual shareholding in Vivendi became 25%.
In other words, Xu Liang invested a total of 30 yuan twice, but only accounted for 25% of Vivendi's equity.
This seriously increased the cost of his acquisition of Vivendi.
This strategy is similar to an anti-takeover poison pill plan.
The purpose is to help Xu Liang acquire Vivendi and resist Bolore's acquisition.
But back to the original topic.
Whether it is a direct acquisition or an acquisition through a private placement, Vivendi's acquisition cost too much money.
Follow Xu Liang’s original financial plan.
Christina Investment Company used its 12.75% stake in Facebook to lend to Standard Chartered Bank.
According to the latest valuation of Facebook after the merger between the two parties.
The value of this 12.75% stake in Facebook is around US$2 billion.
Xu Liang's Hongyan Fund provided guarantee to Christina Investment Company and strived to lend US$2 billion.
Then using US$2 billion as leverage, Hanhua Group provided US$2 billion in financing and US$4 billion to acquire the canal+ Group as a whole and assume all the debts of the canal+ Group.
Now it becomes the overall acquisition of Vivendi Group.
Hanhua will spend tens of billions of dollars in cash to help Christina Investment Company.
Even more is needed.
Some people may ask, why not just invest, but acquire in this way.
Two words, safety.
In the final analysis, it is for TM safety.
Twenty years later, everyone will know how the old America is different from the West.
If you can’t compete, grab it; if you can’t defeat it, impose sanctions.
Therefore, he is very cautious in his investments in the United States, especially in the West.
Whether Facebook or Vivendi, he will not invest more than 1 billion US dollars. All are invested through layers of debt.
Then in the process of operation, all the money invested is recovered.
In this way, even if the United States and the West act as monsters, your capital and interest will definitely not be lost.
The fundamentals were preserved.
As for Facebook and Vivendi, they will be gone if they are gone.
My flesh hurts, but it doesn’t hurt my body.
Xu Liang pondered for a long time and sighed in his heart.
“It seems that we need to discuss it with Xiaoyang.”
"Mr. Xu, nothing remains static. Our strategies must change with changes in the real environment. Now Vivendi's changes no longer allow you to acquire it separately." Jean Foch explained.
Xu Liang nodded.
Not only because of Vincent Bolore, but also because of Sina’s joining, new variables appeared in his original plan.
"It's a big deal, I need time to think about it."
"Of course. But you'd better hurry up. Vincent is now busy acquiring Vivendi's shares, he won't Giving you too much time to prepare.”
Xu Liang smiled and nodded.
There was something he didn't tell Foch.
The shareholding of Vivendi he holds is far greater than that of Vincent.
Hanwha London Private Equity Fund No. 1 currently holds 8.9% of Vivendi's equity, and Hanwha New York Private Equity Fund No. 2 holds 7.8% of Vivendi's shares.
These two shares were acquired after Vivendi’s financial collapse in 2002 and have never been sold.
Finally, there is the 12.8% stake held by Hongyan Fund through shadow funds.
The reason why Hongyan entered the market was to make a quick buck after the news of Vivendi's acquisition spread.
But now if he plans to acquire Vivendi, this part of the equity cannot be sold.
At least it cannot be sold on the secondary market.
These three parts of the equity add up to 29.5%, which is definitely more than the sum of the Bolore family and the Lagardère family.
If Xu Liang wants to make another acquisition, he must disclose his shareholding to the outside world.
The securities laws of various countries have similar provisions.
Once affiliated companies hold equity in the same company that meets the disclosure requirements stipulated in the securities law, they must disclose it, otherwise it is illegal.
Although people often break the law, they certainly don’t do it openly.
And it will be troublesome once it is found out.
After seeing off Jean Foch, Xu Liang immediately said: "Lv Hui, call Xia Changsheng, Huo Yan and Chu Gang immediately. All previous plans for Vivendi are cancelled."
"Okay. ."
"Wait. I'll make the call myself."
After Lu Hui agreed, he hurried out.
Xu Liang took out his cell phone and called Xia Changsheng.
"Mr. Xu?"
"Lao Xia, how much has Vivendi's equity increased now?"
"Since the news of your acquisition of Vivendi spread, Vivendi's The market value has risen by 7.9% and is still rising.”
Xia Changsheng’s words were full of excitement.
Currently, news of Xu Liang's acquisition of Vivendi is circulating in the market, but no actual action has been spread, so the increase in the stock price is not high.
After a week, it only increased by less than 10%.
If Xu Liang takes action, it will definitely skyrocket.
“Stop the plan to sell Vivendi’s shares.”
“Stop?”
“Yes, the plan has changed.”
Xu Liang briefly explained his plan for Vivendi and the current changes.
“It is no longer possible to only acquire the canal+ group.” Xu Liang sighed.
"Mr. Xu, you should immediately contact the Li family in Hong Kong and the Qiu family in Singapore to acquire the equity of Vivendi."
Xu Liang is now surrounded by many families, but he can be called the There are only two hardcore ones.
One is the Li family in Hong Kong (Sishu Li), and the other is the Qiu family in Singapore (Qiu Deba).
These two families often served as his white gloves and made great contributions in a series of corporate mergers and acquisitions such as Master Kong, Standard Chartered Bank, and Bandai Corporation.
So for all previous fundraisings of Hanhua's funds, others have followed the quota, and they can get as much as they want.
"I will call them later. Please investigate for me first. How many convertible bonds are currently issued by Vivendi?"
"5.44 billion euros."< br>
“So clear?”
"When we acquired Vivendi's equity, we also acquired part of Vivendi's bonds, so we are very clear."
"Okay, we all know that we can draw inferences from one example." Xu Liang said with a smile.
He did not explain the purchase of Vivendi's bonds at the beginning.
“With the example of Unocal Petroleum on the table, of course we know how to learn.” Xia Changsheng said.
“Continue to acquire. As long as it is a bond that has passed the grace period, you can buy as much as you can.”
He did not ask the specific amount of the acquisition.
The authority he gave Xia Changsheng was 100 million US dollars.
In other words, for investments under US$100 million, Xia Changsheng has independent decision-making power and does not need to report to him.
But if it exceeds 100 million US dollars, a report must be made.
Since the other party did not submit a report to him, it means that the number of acquisitions was not very large.
"Understood."
Here we want to talk about convertible bonds.
It is a bond that the bondholder can convert into the company's common stock at a price agreed upon at the time of issuance.
If the bondholder does not want to convert, he can continue to hold the bond until the repayment period expires to collect the principal and interest, or sell it in the circulation market for cash.
If the holder is optimistic about the appreciation potential of the bond-issuing company's stock, he can exercise the conversion right after the grace period and convert the bond into stocks at the predetermined conversion price, and the bond-issuing company cannot refuse.
The ‘grace period’ needs to be emphasized here.
Generally refers to the time when early repayment or conversion is not allowed after the bond is issued.
Give a simple example.
When you go to a bank to get a loan, the loan term is three years, and there is generally a 'grace period' of half a year or one year.
If you repay early within the grace period, you will have to pay liquidated damages.
After that, only the principal will be repaid.
That’s roughly what it means.
If you want to convert convertible bonds into stocks, the 'grace period' must pass before the conversion is allowed.
After hanging up the phone with Xia Changsheng, Xu Liang immediately called Uncle Li and Qiu Jinshan.
If they can each acquire 4.9% of the shares.
Then the equity of Vivendi controlled by Xu Liang will be close to 40%, and he is sure of winning.
Thinking of this, Xu Liang felt inexplicably relaxed.
(End of this chapter)