July is coming soon.
In the past half month, Hong Kong's stock market has continued to be hot. The Hang Seng Index has hit new highs repeatedly. The stock prices of many companies have broken records, especially tourism stocks, which have surged because the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong has also increased recently. More and more people are coming to Hong Kong, and many relevant large financial groups in Hong Kong have begun to vigorously guide overseas people to travel here. And because of the reform of the mainland, more international businessmen are going to Hong Kong, using this place as a springboard to try to cooperate with the mainland in business.
In particular, the stocks of Grand Hotel, the oldest hotel group in Hong Kong, were rising all the way. But soon, some people discovered that something was wrong. The stock of Grand Hotel rose too fast. As long as the stocks were sold, they would be closed immediately. Soon, trading volume began to surge unusually.
The large and small consortiums and some investors who smelled the "fishy smell" immediately realized that a large consortium was acquiring the shares of the hotel, and it was very likely that a fierce acquisition war was about to break out.
When encountering the acquisition of British capital, the first thing most people in Hong Kong think of is Chen Zhiwen. However, an assistant of Chen Zhiwen soon said in an interview with the media that the matter of the hotel had nothing to do with Chen Sheng.
Who is buying up big hotel shares? It became a puzzle. As the Grand Hotel’s share price rose to 40 Hong Kong dollars per share, the Kadoorie family finally reacted and immediately held a press conference, saying that the Grand Hotel’s current benefits were very good. Under the leadership of the Kadoorie family , the income is very good, and at the same time, it is publicly announced that no matter who is acquiring the shares of the hotel, the Kadoorie family is willing to include the other party on the board of directors and work together to serve all shareholders.
This promise was false, and anyone with a discerning eye could see that there was obviously no response to the news. Trading on the stock market continued, and a large amount of hot money also followed. Soon, the stock price exceeded 50 Hong Kong dollars.
This price was basically twice what it was before the news of the acquisition emerged. Robert Kuok, who was behind the scenes, finally stepped forward and officially announced the acquisition of a large hotel group.
"Who is Robert Kuok?"
This was the question that many Hong Kong people had after hearing the news. It was not until the Hong Kong Economic Times urgently released a temporary afternoon edition of the newspaper that afternoon that everyone got to know this Southeast Asian wealthy businessman.
"World Sugar King", "Malaysian's richest man", "Southeast Asia Hotel Tycoon", any person with such a title is enough to become a business overlord, and Robert Kuok has three. The newspaper described in detail as early as a long time ago Robert Kuok had previously intended to invest in Hong Kong, and since he already owned a hotel industry, everyone was suddenly enlightened. No wonder he wanted to acquire a large hotel group.
The Grand Hotel Group owns the most famous Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, as well as many high-quality land and rental properties. After all, this is a company with a history of nearly 50 years.
Affected by this, the hotel's stock price rose again.
At the headquarters of CLP Group, Michael Kadoorie, who had received the exact information, said to his men: "Immediately find some connections and go to Malaysia to check all the information about Robert Kuok. There is too little useful information in this newspaper."
This one-page introduction to Robert Kuok is of course enough information for the ordinary people, but it is not enough for the Kadoorie family who are about to spend a lot of money to protect their own industry.
"Okay," said a young blonde beauty.
"Also, prepare the car, I want to go to HSBC." Michael Kadoorie added.
After a while, Michael Kadoorie got into his Rolls-Royce and headed to the headquarters of HSBC Bank amid many media photos.
Shen Bi had also received the call long ago. When Michael Kadoorie entered the office, Shen Bi had already arranged for someone to prepare coffee.
Michael Kadoorie said: "Mr. Shen Bi, you also know the current situation of the hotel. I don't have specific information about Robert Kuok, but his financial strength is probably higher than that of my Kadoorie family. Therefore, I need Loan a sum of money from HSBC to hold on to the hotel.”
"How many do you need?" Shen Bi said.
Naturally, Michael came to see him to borrow money, which is also the most important business of the bank itself. Especially for this kind of emergency loan, the interest rate is generally much higher than that of normal commercial loans. As for risk control, Shen Bi will also control it very well. .
"One billion Hong Kong dollars." Michael Kadoorie said a number.
"This is too much." Shen Bi shook his head and said: "In order to build a new fuel-fired power station, CLP loaned HK$2.6 billion from HSBC and various banks. In the past two years, oil prices have been high, and CLP has been losing money. , If it were not for people's livelihood basic projects, I am afraid that such losses would have been unsustainable long ago. Now that you still need so much funds, the risk is too great for HSBC."
"Then how much can HSBC give?" Michael Kadoorie frowned and said.
"How about I give you HK$500 million first? What happens next depends on Robert Kuok's situation," Shen Bi said.
"Is there any communication channel between HSBC and Robert Kuok? I would like to talk to the other party." Michael Kadoorie added that CLP has indeed suffered a lot of losses in the past two years. Fortunately, the real estate market has developed relatively well, and it has pulled back. They have made a little profit, and now the big hotel group is being attacked again. In this case, even if they win, they will suffer serious losses. If they can negotiate, that is the best result.
"When Sandus was the CEO of HSBC, he collaborated with Robert Kuok. Later, Robert Kuok bought a stake in a bank in Malaysia, and we never cooperated with HSBC again, but I can pass on a message." Shen Bi thought for a while and said.
"Okay, thank you very much." After Michael Kadoorie got what he needed, he immediately said goodbye and left.
After Michael Kadoorie left, a while later, the profitable general manager Dis came in and asked: "Mr. Shen Bi, I have already sent a message to a bank friend in Malaysia. He will take our message with him." To Robert Kuok."
"That's good, but I guess the possibility of peace talks is unlikely. I've long heard that Robert Kuok wanted to come to Hong Kong to build a hotel, but I didn't expect that he would directly acquire a big hotel." Shen Bi said.
Dis said: "It's a bit strange. Kuok's hotels are part of the Shangri-La hotel chain. It stands to reason that if you invest in hotels in Hong Kong, it would be more cost-effective to build one yourself. Acquisition of existing hotels, whether it is changing the name or decoration style, will be more cost-effective. It’s not cost-effective, and if it were different, Peninsula Hotels and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts would not be complementary.”
"It's a bit unreasonable, but it's also possible that Robert Kuok is planning to transfer capital to Hong Kong." Shen Bi thought for a while and said, "That makes sense. In recent years, many Chinese in Southeast Asia have been thinking about transferring capital. Most people just buy some buildings, properties or stocks, but Kuok is worth so much that if he wants to come to Hong Kong, he will definitely need to acquire a large local company. Maybe he has chosen a large hotel group."
"It's possible. The Kadoorie family has invested all their assets and energy in CLP Power in recent years. Coupled with the general environment, they may really be unable to control the hotel." Dis nodded.
"If Robert Kuok wants to buy a big hotel, I'm afraid he has to ask another person." Shen Bi said with a smile.
"You mean, Liang Zhonghao?" Dis asked.
(End of chapter)
