July 28, sunny:
The air-conditioning of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been turned down to the lowest level, but everyone inside is in a volcano-like mood, and many people are already shouting with excitement.
It turns out that a few days ago, when the World Sugar King announced the acquisition of Grand Hotel, he rented a position on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and purchased the shares of Grand Hotel in cash for HK$70 per share. This aroused the interest of a lot of people, and many people were anxious. Are selling their stocks.
However, in the afternoon of the same day, the Kadoorie family also used the same trick. They rented a position on the other side of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and made an acquisition at HK$72 per share. This naturally made countless stockholders "change their minds" and immediately threw themselves into new arms.
However, the purchasing office of the Kadoorie family is very inefficient and transactions are slower, almost three times that of the one next door. But for more money, many people are still willing to wait. Besides, there are more people waiting for sugar. Wang's new move, and as a result, stock trading has slowed down even more.
Until this morning, the position of "Sugar King" was once again changed to another brand: "75 Hong Kong dollars per share, cash acquisition, quick victory."
As soon as many stock investors saw this sign, they immediately ran over and threw the Kadoorie family aside.
Michael Kadoorie, who was hiding behind the scenes, saw what was happening in front of him, and his face turned dark again, and he said, "What the hell is this Robert Kuok doing? Is a big hotel group worth buying it at such a high price?"
The younger brother Henry Kadoorie said: "According to the information checked by my friends in Southeast Asia, Robert Kuok's financial resources may be far greater than ours. This may not put much financial pressure on him."
"This is not a question of financial pressure, but whether it is worth it. Although the hotel is not small in scale, it is not very dazzling among so many listed companies in Hong Kong. Only the Peninsula Hotel is more famous, and the others are not. What, this Robert Kuok wants to forcefully acquire the hotel, I can understand, but to do so at HK$75 per share is far more than the value of the hotel itself. With this money, it is more cost-effective to acquire other companies." Michael Kadoorie frowned and said.
In fact, he has long known that his family's strength is far lower than that of Robert Kuok. Robert Kuok is the richest man in Malaysia, and his Kadoorie family is only one of the ten richest families in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong's per capita wealth exceeds that of Malaysia, the Malays However, in a country with a large population, the financial strength of the local richest man and the resources behind it are definitely not something that the Kadoorie family can contend with.
The only advantage is that this acquisition war takes place in Hong Kong, and as long as the price is high, the other party will feel that it is not a good deal and will naturally give up. No one will do a loss-making business.
"There are two explanations. I have heard that Kuok Henian wanted to invest in Hong Kong, so he wanted to use this acquisition opportunity to achieve this goal. If this time it fails because of some problems, then in Hong Kong I'm afraid it will be difficult to succeed again. If we acquire our listed company, the stock price will rise sharply, and the acquisition of other listed companies will also encounter the same problem. Therefore, for Robert Kuok, this time must be successful. The second possibility is, It is Robert Kuok's personal hobby. He may have taken a fancy to Peninsula Hotel, so he was determined to acquire the hotel group." Henry Kadoorie analyzed.
"Both of the guesses you mentioned are possible, but either one is very detrimental to us." Michael Kadoorie frowned and said.
"Now that we have reached this point, we have no way out. We have 800 million Hong Kong dollars in cash in hand. If we continue to spend it like this, if Robert Kuok wants to win, it will cost at least one billion, and the stock price will rise sharply. Regardless of whether Kuok Henian is There is no reason to bite us like this, but as long as we show an attitude of not giving up, when the cost is too high, he will definitely give up." Henry Kadoorie said.
"It's okay for you to say that, but even if we defeat Kuok Henian, we will suffer huge losses that our family has not experienced in decades." Michael Kadoorie said with a frown.
"There is nothing we can do about it. If we are attacked by a large consortium, we will not be able to escape unscathed unless we admit defeat and sell our stocks to the other party." Henry Kadoorie said.
"This is impossible. The Peninsula Hotel is the inheritance of our family. No matter how high the price is, we must keep it." Michael Kadoorie took a deep breath and said. The greatest asset of the hotel is the Peninsula Hotel, which must be what Robert Kuok is interested in. , otherwise, other properties under the Grand Hotel Group, such as the Kowloon Hotel, Repulse Bay Park, Johnson Building, etc., can be negotiated. If someone really wants to buy it at a high price, Michael Kadoorie feels that he will regard the other party as God. .
"Then we can only accept the challenge." Henry Kadoorie said.
"Then we will increase the purchase price to 78. I want to see if Robert Kuok will follow suit." Michael Kadoorie said.
"Okay, I'll do it right away." Henry Kadoorie said after being ordered.
"Kadoorie has increased the price to HK$80 per share, brothers, hurry up!"
"King Sugar is here at 82!"
“It’s 84 here in Kadoorie!”
Amidst the constant price increases, many investors who had not sold their stocks were beaming with joy, while those who had already sold their stocks were stamping their feet angrily, hating that they had sold their stocks too early.
Two days later, the purchase price of Sugar King has reached as high as 87 Hong Kong dollars, which is almost three times the price of Grand Hotel’s stock before the takeover war broke out. This takeover war can be said to be the most exciting takeover war since Land Drinking Milk in 1972. , how many investors have made a lot of money, but it is much more interesting than Chen Zhiwen's several acquisitions.
Of course, in terms of stock growth, it is still far less than that of the milk company stocks back then.
CLP Group Headquarters:
"Brother, what should we do now? This Kuok Henian is simply crazy. He has been purchasing at this price. More than half of the funds in our hands have been consumed. Do we want to continue?" Henry Kadoorie asked with an ugly face.
The one whose expression was uglier than his was that of Michael Kadoorie. He never expected that Robert Kuok would be so crazy and would buy a big hotel at almost any cost. But when it came to this situation, he could no longer hold on any longer and asked: "Can Do you know how many stocks Kuok Henian holds?"
"I don't know, but I have acquired at least a dozen percent recently," Henry Kadoorie said.
"More than ten percent! With the Chinese acquisition style, if you don't have a certain amount of stocks in your hands, you won't do it publicly like this. In other words, Robert Kuok may already have almost 30% of the stocks in his hands, which is already close to triggering the trigger. That's the limit of a takeover offer," Michael Kadoorie said.
"We now have 20% in our hands. With the current situation, it is impossible to withdraw even if we want to." Henry Kadoorie naturally understood what his eldest brother meant. If it were before, the shares of both parties were not as large as they are now. If one party is willing If you sell your shares, the other party will be happy to take over, even at a high price.
But now, both parties have spent hundreds of millions each, benefiting a lot of shareholders or speculative institutions, and both parties have a lot of shares. It is impossible to take over the other party's shares, because once they take over, it will trigger an acquisition invitation. With the current situation The stock price is too high to go bankrupt?
It's just that this is a deadlock. It's impossible for the Kadoorie family to give up their ancestral business until they absolutely lose hope. But now, when there seems to be no hope, they can't get rid of it.
"Since you can't quit, let's continue. Kuok Henian's acquisition speed has also slowed down a lot, and obviously the financial pressure is also great. Let's just spend it like this first, and let's see who can outspend whom." Michael Gaojia Li Li frowned and said, among the acquisition cases in Hong Kong or other places, there are actually not many acquisitions that can be acquired in a short time. Most of them will take a long time because the stocks will be raised to very high prices, and everyone is not a fool, so slowly Wait for the opportunity, wait for a long time and the stock price drops, and then see which one of the companies is stronger.
"That's okay. In fact, even if Robert Kuok acquires 34.9%, we may not necessarily win. We still have a chance at the shareholders' meeting." Henry Kadoorie said that the Hong Kong government's revised limit for triggering a takeover offer is to protect them. In fact, in the past two years, Chen Zhiwen has put too much pressure on British-owned enterprises, which has indirectly protected the Kadoorie family.
"Yes, we still have a lot of people at the shareholders' meeting. We haven't made any big mistakes over the years. Shareholders may not necessarily support outsiders." Michael Kadoorie said.
"However, there are still problems with funding. If we continue to acquire at this intensity, the cash in our hands may not last long. If we try to find an emergency loan from a bank, we won't be able to get it in a short time." Henry Kadoorie said.
"There is still a lot of funds in the CLP account. If there is an emergency, I can use this funds." Michael Kadoorie said.
"Is there any risk in doing this?" Henry asked.
Michael Kadoorie said: "Don't worry, I know it will not affect CLP."
"That's okay." Henry Kadoorie nodded and said.
On the other side, Robert Kuok came to the Hilton Hotel, met Chen Zhiwen and Pao Yugang again, and said: "Both of you, I have acquired 34.9% of the shares of the hotel, and several shareholders have been persuaded by me. Do I need to announce it now?" Convene a shareholders’ meeting?”
Bao Yugang said: "Guo Sheng, I don't want it for now. I'm going to buy the hotel's shares next time."
"Are you acquiring? This is of no use, is it? If we do this, once discovered by the Hong Kong government or the court, it is very likely that we belong to the same acquisition team, which will trigger an acquisition offer?" Robert Kuok said with a frown.
Many people believe that there are loopholes in the takeover offer, whether it is the current 35% requirement or the previous 50% requirement. For example, if one party acquires 34.9% and the other party acquires 16%, wouldn't it be successful?
But in fact, this is not recognized by the court at all. Once it is sued, it will only be judged to belong to the same party, and then a takeover offer will be triggered. Unless one party has acquired the stock and publicly admitted it, and has owned it for more than two years, it will be considered a normal shareholder. If it cooperates with the acquirer, it may succeed, but this time cost is too high, and the company’s controlling shareholder is not Fool, the sudden addition of a major shareholder will only cause alarm.
"So I will provide the funds and you, Guo Sheng, will continue to acquire it. No one knows how many shares you have now. Just pretend that it has not reached 34.9%. When it is announced in the future, just pretend that this extra stock does not exist." ." Bao Yugang said with a smile.
"I understand, Mr. Bao wants to consume the funds in Kadoorie's hands first, right?" Robert Kuok understood Bao Yugang's intention and said with a smile.
(End of chapter)
