Chapter 1064 Dutch Bank
Xu Liangliang, who had just gained his fourteenth son, was very happy. The territory of the second generation of the old Xu family had expanded again.
"Mr. Xu, the contract with Guangdong Development Bank has been signed. We will subscribe for 85.588% of the shares of the reorganized Guangdong Development Bank with a bid of 24.267 billion Chinese dollars.
Standard Chartered Bank holds 20% of the shares. , Hanhua holds 20.588% of the shares, China Petroleum and Huarun hold 20% of the shares respectively, and Bank of Milan holds 5% of the shares.
In addition, Mr. John Humphrey, CEO of Standard Chartered, sent an email, In response to Guangdong Development Bank's investment while continuing to expand its business in Southeast Asia, he plans to issue a new share of 2 billion US dollars
He wants to ask you whether it is targeted financing, equal proportion financing, or direct sale to the outside world? ”
Hongyan now holds 36.7% of Standard Chartered’s shares.
If you don’t want to be diluted, you can only invest in new shares in proportion.
If you want to increase your holdings in Standard Chartered If you want shares, then take all the US$2 billion.
“You call Xia Changsheng, Standard Chartered will raise funds, and you can invest according to the amount of shares you hold. ”
Now is not the time to increase its stake in Standard Chartered.
Li Jinling nodded and placed a document in front of Xu Liang.
"President Humphrey also faxed a copy of the information about ABN AMRO Bank, saying that ABN AMRO Bank is currently seeking to be sold to external parties and asking if you are interested."
"A Dutch Bank is for sale. ?”
Xu Liang was a little surprised, ABN Amro is not a small company.
As one of the largest commercial banks in Europe, ABN Amro has a history of 183 years, a behemoth of US$1.12 trillion in assets and 107,000 employees.
If it is really acquired, it will be another huge merger that will shock the world.
It can be compared with AOL's acquisition of Time Warner in January 2000 for US$182 billion in stock and debt; Vodafone's US$133 billion acquisition of Mannesmann.
After flipping through the information in his hand, Xu Liang took out his phone and called Humphrey.
The call was answered quickly.
"BOSS."
"ABN AMRO is for sale?"
"Yes. Now major banks in Europe have begun to make offers for ABN AMRO. The most dominant one at present is the Royal Bank of Scotland. A group of banks including Banco de España and Fortis SA, as well as Barclays, offered $81 billion, 50% of which was owned by ABN Amro shareholders. Cash is preferred, so the three banks now have an advantage
However, the amount of the acquisition this time is too large. Who can win will still need to be negotiated continuously. ”
“Who promoted this acquisition of ABN Amro? "
There is always one leader for such a big action.
"It is the hedge fund headed by TCI. ”
“TCI? Christopher Horn? ”
"That's him."
Xu Liang himself is a hedge fund manager and has a certain understanding of mainstream hedge funds in major markets around the world.
TCI’s full name is “Children’s Investment Fund”.
Christopher Horn pays special attention to children's charities and donates 0.5% of the fund's assets to several children's foundations every year.
Of course, charity funds in Europe and the United States are basically the same.
On the surface, it is charity, but it is actually a tax avoidance for oneself.
Of course TCI is selling dog meat with a sheep's head.
TCI is based in London and has total assets of approximately US$4 billion. It is just a junior among hedge funds.
The reason Xu Liang knew it was mainly because his investment strategy was different from others.
He likes to actively intervene in the operations of enterprises, negotiate with executives of listed companies, and actively seek support from other shareholders, rather than passively staring at financial statements or trading models.
This investment model is called ‘shareholder activism’ in the Western financial industry.
But this kind of person is the most annoying to corporate CEOs.
After all, no one wants to have a fly in the media every day, playing against themselves in the board of directors.
The activist investment style often makes TCI appear on the front pages of newspapers.
In 2005, it blocked Deutsche Börse's acquisition of the London Stock Exchange and forced the former to undergo a strategic reorganization.
Horn calls himself a value investor, but he neither "buys and holds" like Buffett or Xu Liang, nor does he conduct leveraged buyouts like KKR or Blackstone.
With only a few billion dollars in assets under his control, Horn always tends to find strategic partners and force management to make changes through strong external pressure.
“TCI has constantly criticized ABN AMRO Bank for its lack of operational efficiency, slow performance growth, and shareholder return lagging behind most of its European peers.
This has caused a lot of trouble for the management of ABN AMRO Bank. Pressure.
And he persuaded many shareholders of ABN Amro
Now banks and investment banks around the world are getting involved whether ABN AMRO wants it or not.
In the end, even if it is not sold, it will definitely have to divest a lot of assets to appease shareholders. Therefore, I think Standard Chartered can cooperate with Barclays Bank, and the two partners will acquire ABN Amro.
Once successful, Barclays will gain access to ABN Amro's business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, and we will gain access to France, Spain, and South America and Asia.
While continuing to consolidate Standard Chartered’s presence in global emerging markets, it can also strengthen Standard Chartered’s presence in Europe. ”
Just when Humphrey fantasized about Standard Chartered Bank's assets exceeding one trillion and becoming the world's top bank.
“John, it has only been seven years since Standard Chartered entered the East and Southeast Asian markets. In these seven years, Standard Chartered has participated in nearly 20 mergers and acquisitions, and now it has just acquired China Guangdong Development Bank.
Now for The most important thing for us is to integrate, straighten out the management system and risk control, rather than blindly pursue scale.
And the size of ABN Amro is too huge.
Standard Chartered does not have capital for mergers and acquisitions. A top bank with a large scale cannot even share the burden with Barclays.”
The subprime mortgage crisis is about to begin, and banks around the world have been deceived by the United States.
A top global bank like ABN Amro must have a lot of CDO bonds in its pocket.
To enter now is to take over the offer from ABN Amro shareholders.
He would not do such a stupid thing.
Wouldn’t it be nice to pick up leaks after two years?
"BOSS..."
"Okay, John. Within three years from today, Standard Chartered will mainly focus on integration. Three years later, I will support you with a sum of money for mergers and acquisitions."
Big bosses all Having said that, even if Humphrey is dissatisfied, he can only accept it.
Now Hanhua and Hongyan collectively hold more than half of the Standard Chartered stocks. If you don’t listen, you will get out.
“Okay, BOSS.”
"Have all the CDOs and CDS related to the United States within the company begun to be cleared?"
"They are gradually being sold to the market, and it is expected that within two months, they will all be replaced by countries such as the United States, China, Japan and South Korea National debt. "
"Submit a Standard Chartered balance sheet to me every half month, and ask for details. "
He was afraid that Humphrey would fool him, so he had to keep an eye on this matter personally. .
“Okay.”
After chatting for a few more words, Xu Liang hung up the phone.
“By the way, there is one more thing.”
Call to Li Jinling who is about to leave.
“You tell the crew to stay in Singapore for a week and then arrange to send my parents to London.”
“Okay.”
Mo Maniang and Christina were only one month apart from each other, and Helen and Lu Hui were only half a month apart, plus Jiang Xiaoyang, who was pregnant with her second child.
This year there will be eight or nine more third generations of the old Xu family.
After all, Christina had three cubs in her arms, so she was really capable of giving birth.
After waving her hand to leave, Xu Liang left the study.
As soon as he arrived on the first floor, he saw Mr. Xu running over with Transformers in his arms.
When she saw him, her eyes lit up, and her little body turned and rushed towards him.
“Dad.”
Picked him up and kissed his smooth little face.
“Daddy won’t kiss you.”
My little hands pushed my dad’s big face, and the stubble on his little face was uncomfortable at all.
"Where is your mother?"
"My brother is making a mess, and my mother and aunt are cleaning up."
While talking, An Kaiyue, wearing a thick coat, walked out of the children's room on the first floor. .
Seeing her husband and son, she came over with a happy face.
“Mom.”
The little guy wanted to hug him, but Xu Liang stopped him.
She had just given birth, and although she was recovering well, her body was still weak after all.
"How is Twinkle?"
"You can eat and sleep, so it's much easier to take care of than him."
As he said that, An Kaiyue placed his right index finger on his son's little nose. The boss poked him lovingly.
(End of this chapter)