As for Hong Kong Electric, in fact, like Wharf, Chen Zhiwen has no intention to really privatize it, at least not for the time being. This kind of traditional industry will be large-scale in the future, but the efficiency will be low. From a purely financial investment perspective , it is not a high-quality asset at all, far inferior to the technology industry, and it is not at the trough of real estate like Hutchison. After privatization, you can obtain more capital by waiting for appreciation.
However, "don't care about privatization" is a weapon for acquisitions. With this attitude, you can tell the acquired party to give up the struggle as soon as possible, but the premise is that the share price of the acquisition cannot be raised, because after triggering the acquisition offer, you need to The remaining stocks are acquired based on the highest acquisition price in the previous six months. In this way, once the previous price is high, the acquisition price will increase several times.
"Now that Jardine HSBC has intervened, we will quickly purchase the stock price at a high price. The acquisition will be done first. The shareholders' meeting must also be convened. I will make an appointment with Shen Bi. As long as HSBC does not intervene, Jardine will not be able to make any trouble." Chen Zhiwen paused and said.
In the original history, Land also acquired Hong Kong Electric, but that was in 1982. At that time, housing prices in Hong Kong were higher than now. In addition, when Pao Yugang acquired Wharf shares, Jardine Matheson took advantage of the high price to sell the shares. Now, without the help of HSBC, Yihe would not be able to do this on his own.
"Okay, let's do it immediately." Xu Jinhong agreed.
In the afternoon of that day, Galaxy Group officially announced that it already holds 28% of HK Electric's shares. At the same time, it will continue to acquire HK$5.5 per share until it holds 34.9% of HK Electric. At the same time, Galaxy Group, as a major shareholder , disagreed with Hong Kong Electric's introduction of Land's capital, and requested a shareholders' meeting to vote on the matter.
5.5 Hong Kong dollars, but it is 15% more valuable than the current average stock price of 4.8 in the market. Compared with the stock price of Hong Kong Electric before the public takeover, it has increased by more than 50%. For such a good thing, you have to occupy a position first, so , many people began to make the move to sell their stocks.
Others are hesitant because Land has intervened, and there are rumors that HSBC has intervened. No one knows what will happen to this acquisition later. It is possible that Land will acquire it at a higher price later, and it is also possible that Chen Zhiwen will be If Hong Kong Electric is forced to privatize, then no matter what the outcome, it will be profitable for the waiting parties, but the risk is that after Galaxy acquires 34.9%, the acquisition will either fail because it does not want to trigger the acquisition offer, or it will acquire it through other means. success. In this case, they will miss the opportunity.
North Point, Hong Kong Electric Headquarters Building:
"We just finished the meeting less than three hours ago. How did Galaxy know that we were going to introduce Land's shares?" Connor asked angrily in the conference room.
The group of people below looked at me and I looked at you, and then a British national said: "Could it be leaked by Land or HSBC?"
"I just called and asked. The two families did not hold any internal meetings. Only a handful of people, such as Shen Bi and Baofuda Newbijian, knew about this matter. You wouldn't think that they were the ones who revealed it. Right?" Connor snorted.
The conference room suddenly became quiet. Everyone looked at others suspiciously, but for a while no one knew who the mole was. After a while, Connor said: "I don't know who among you has done this." This matter, but the current situation of Hutchison Whampoa is a lesson learned from the past. In Hong Kong, it is impossible for the Chinese and us British to really trust each other. If the Chinese capital takes over our company, even if they do not drive us away, they will still slowly Take the power out of our hands.”
"Dong dong dong" there was a knock on the door, and a blonde girl came in. After saying a few words in Connor's ear, Connor said, "Okay, everyone, let's do our own thing."
After the meeting, Connor rushed to the headquarters of HSBC, where Newbijian and others were also here.
"The current situation is beyond our expectations. Chen Zhiwen actually owns more than 20% of the shares. He has the right to convene a shareholders' meeting. Our proposal to increase shares can only wait until after the shareholders' meeting." After Connor sat down, he quickly said.
"How did he acquire so many stocks? Hong Kong Electric did not raise funds in the stock market on a large scale?" Niubijian said with a frown. Chen Zhiwen's two previous acquisitions, one of which was Hutchison's, were so bad that the stock price fell for more than a year. No one cares about penny stocks, but Wharf has expanded its shares several times to raise funds to build Harbor City, giving Chen Zhiwen an opportunity.
"I thought carefully about it on the way here. It is very likely that in the past year, so many media in Hong Kong were using public opinion to oppose the increase in electricity prices. It was most likely arranged by Chen Zhiwen. There were even rumors that the Hong Kong government was going to issue a third A power generation license is also fake news they released." Connor said: "I suspected that someone was behind this matter before, but I thought it was just some interest groups in Hong Kong who refused to let the electricity price rise. Now it seems , is what Chen Zhiwen did in order to acquire HK Electric shares in the long term."
"Hutchison Whampoa controls TVB, and so many Chinese newspapers are owned by Chen Zhiwen. It is not difficult for him to do this." Shen Bi nodded and said, "In addition, there are many people who support this matter, and Chen Zhiwen is also very interested. It’s easy to get it.”
"Let's talk about what to do now?" Newbijian changed the topic. In fact, last year, Hong Kong Electric and CLP proposed to increase electricity prices. Apart from their own power groups, who else would agree? Even Jardine is not willing. Everyone's business has been damaged due to the energy crisis. No one is happy with another price increase. As for how much losses HK Electric and CLP lose, they don't care.
Shen Bi said: "In this situation, we can only forcefully raise the stock price of Hong Kong Electric first, so that Chen Zhiwen cannot acquire enough shares within ten days to exercise his veto power."
"Even if we can do it, Chen Zhiwen can convince some shareholders that the veto power only requires 33.4%, not the 50.1% that requires controlling shares. It may not be difficult." Niubijian said with a frown.
"Then it's better to do nothing, right? Even if Chen Zhiwen vetoes Land's shareholding plan, as long as the stock price is high enough, he will not dare to trigger a takeover bid, and there will be no way to obtain more than 35% of the shares. In this way, We will still have opportunities in the future, and at worst we will be stuck in a tug-of-war. As long as we have management rights, we will at least have a chance to turn around," Shen Bi said.
"You guys decide quickly. What I know is that Galaxy Group has already collected shares in the stock market. If it's any later, we will be completely late." Connor said with a frown.
"Okay, I will immediately let Hongkong Land make public acquisitions on the stock market to raise the stock price first." Niubijian finally decided and said that although Hong Kong Electric's management also has money, there is no point in acquiring itself. The repurchased stocks will still be bought by Chen Zhiwen This major shareholder shares a part, and HSBC, as the central bank, cannot let go. Only Jardine Matheson Land can take action personally. But in this way, it will be another head-on confrontation with Chen Zhiwen.
"I will allocate part of the funds you need to you first." Shen Bi nodded and said: "I will also release the news that the current management of Hong Kong Electric has excellent capabilities. In order to further cooperate, HSBC will make a loan in the future. About HK$1 billion of low-interest loans were given to HK Electric. You also own a lot of land, right? With the current land and housing prices, you will make huge profits if you develop it.
As long as HSBC expresses its support for you in the announcement, I think investors will be more willing to maintain the current situation, which will also make it more difficult for Chen Zhiwen to win the support of investors. "
"So be it, as long as the stock price is raised high enough, or we give the market enough hope, many people will be in a wait-and-see mode, which will at least delay Chen Zhiwen for a while." Connor nodded. Jardine Matheson came forward to raise the stock price, causing Chen Zhiwen's acquisition costs to skyrocket, and then HSBC came forward to give shareholders hope for the future after HK Electric maintained the status quo. The two parties worked together to attack Chen Zhiwen.
"OK, if there is any further news, we will meet again." Niubijian nodded and said. He actually knew that confronting Chen Zhiwen in the stock market would cause him a certain loss, but doing business involves risks and investments. And this profit is Hong Kong Electric. If it can really succeed, it will be a good deal.
Early the next morning, Land Group publicly announced that it would join the acquisition plan for HK Electric, and at the same time batches of funds entered the market. HK Electric's stock price rose in response. Subsequently, HSBC Group issued an announcement: HSBC is very optimistic about the management of HK Electric. If there is no huge If there are changes, in the future, HSBC will increase its cooperation with Hong Kong Electric to assist Hong Kong Electric in developing its huge areas of land in several prime locations on Hong Kong Island, and the funds involved will be as high as HK$1 billion.
The Hong Kong Electric Group also issued a timely announcement, thanking the HSBC Group for its support. It also announced that it was planning to establish a separate subsidiary for all the land owned by Hong Kong Electric and prepare for listing in the future. Part of the funds obtained will be used to pay back dividends to shareholders, and the other part will be Jointly develop its real estate companies with Land and Land.
When the news from the three companies came out, the market suddenly became lively. HK Electric's stock soared by more than HK$6 per share, and the entire market value of HK Electric has exceeded HK$5 billion.
Cheung Kong Industries Headquarters:
"Li Sheng, come and drink tea. This is the Longjing tea I brought from China. It was given to me by an official from Eastern Guangdong Province. It tastes very good." Hu Yingxiang from Hehe Industry greeted with a smile.
"You come to my place and use your tea, but you are mainly a guest." Li Jiacheng laughed.
"I just came back from the mainland. I heard about the recent major events in Hong Kong, so I came to you." Hu Yingxiang said with a smile: "Li Sheng, we had discussed going to the mainland to invest in highways together, but because of your We want to cooperate with Hong Kong Electric to develop its land, but it seems that this project is not feasible now, do you want to consider it again?”
"Let's wait a little longer. It's hard to say what will happen to Hong Kong Electric this time. Moreover, their cooperation with Land is actually just to increase the stock price and increase Chen Zhiwen's acquisition cost. Even if Land takes a stake, they will Without the ability to develop these lands, Land cannot even develop the land that was once owned by Dairy Farm International." Li Jiacheng paused and said.
Chen Zhiwen's sudden acquisition of Hong Kong Electric caused an almost devastating blow to Li Jiacheng's plan, because it took him two years to slowly convince the top management of Hong Kong Electric to cooperate with him and then develop together. Land owned by Hong Kong Electric.
As a listed company with a century-old history and one of the top ten listed companies in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Electric has been developing on Hong Kong Island and has a lot of high-quality land, which makes people jealous. If the cooperation can be successful, then Cheung Kong Industrial can definitely The scale doubled in three years, while still earning hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars in additional funds.
Everything was developing according to Li Ka-shing's script, but Chen Zhiwen suddenly launched a takeover war for Hong Kong Electric. Whether the acquisition was successful or Hong Kong Electric introduced Land, he actually had no chance, but he didn't really want to invest in expressways. , so it was delayed.
"The stock market in Hong Kong has been really interesting in the past few years. The successive large acquisitions have been eye-opening. Ten years ago, it would have been unimaginable for Chinese capital to acquire large British companies." Li Jiacheng refused. , Hu Yingxiang didn't pay much attention to it. He didn't know how many people he asked, but none of them agreed. One more Li Jiacheng wouldn't be much.
"It's just a one-man show. We people are not qualified yet." Li Jiacheng shook his head and said.
"Actually, it's okay. I know you also want to acquire some British companies. Just don't focus on those big companies. There are still many medium-sized British companies in Hong Kong." Hu Yingxiang said with a smile.
"Forget it, I have no plans for the time being." Li Jiacheng shook his head and said: "The Hong Kong government has revised the rules for triggering takeover offers. Now it is very difficult to acquire any company. I have focused all my attention on the relationship with the British government. Capital companies have cooperated to develop the land.”
"This is not bad. I think back then, when we developed land together, we couldn't find a good location at all. Now this method is very good." Hu Yingxiang nodded and said. Among the five real estate giants in Hong Kong, he still has a good relationship with Li Jiacheng. Since the 1960s, the two of them have developed several projects together, and it can be said that they have grown together to where they are today.
"What about you? Are you really going to invest so much money in domestic highways? Even if this kind of project does not make a loss, it will take a long time to recover the money." Li Jiacheng asked.
"Everyone has their own needs. When we have reached the stage of wealth, we basically can't spend it all. It's no longer interesting to pursue ten times or a hundred times the wealth. It's better to do what I want to do." Hu Yingxiang said with a smile.
"Everyone has their own needs. However, if you want to invest in large-scale infrastructure in China, it is better to go to Chen Zhiwen. I heard that he also invested in some domestic factories last year. He has good relations with the mainland and has sufficient funds." Li Jiacheng said with a smile.
"I have had this idea, but since he is busy acquiring Hong Kong Electric now, I'd better wait until this matter is over before looking for him." Hu Yingxiang said.
"That's okay. I guess Chen Zhiwen should be ready to take action. Now that Jardine and HSBC are practicing against him again, it depends on how he responds." Li Jiacheng nodded and said.
"Yes, it was Wharf before, and this time it is Hong Kong Electric. If Chen Zhiwen wins again, the British capital in Hong Kong will no longer be tough." Hu Yingxiang laughed.
The Wharf acquisition war can also be said to be a sneak attack that Chen Zhiwen had prepared for a long time in advance. But this time, the Hong Kong government has passed laws to protect British capital from being acquired. In this case, if HSBC and Jardine Matheson still lose, then the entire Times have changed in Hong Kong.
(End of chapter)
