Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 631 [Competition with Maersk]

South Africa.

Morris, the president of Times Shipping, was very annoyed because of the sudden change in the acquisition of Safmarine, which attracted competition from Maersk.

Originally, Times Shipping offered US$6 million for the acquisition of Safmarine, which was a very reasonable price, and the shareholders of South Africa Shipping also agreed.

Unexpectedly, at the last critical moment, Maersk joined the competition, and the shareholders of South Africa Shipping naturally wavered, meaning that you should compare whose price is higher!

"Damn the Mueller family!" Morris cursed angrily in a low voice.

If the acquisition of 6 million US dollars is completed, he can prove himself to the boss-his high salary is worth it; but now, Maersk has joined in, and everything has become uncontrollable.

"Let's ask for instructions!" Finally Morris said helplessly.

Hong Kong.

Lin Zuhui was not very surprised when he received a call from Morris.Any acquisition cannot be smooth sailing, even if there is no competitor, the seller may drag the price up.

He remembers an acquisition case in his previous life: Australia’s largest wine merchant, Southern Wines, confidently launched an acquisition of Australia’s second largest wine merchant, Ruoshi Manor, for 6 million Australian dollars after the millennium; As a result, it took a year or two, and the price rose to 14 billion Australian dollars (80 billion RMB).Because during this period, Australian wine posed a huge threat to old wines such as France and Italy due to the exchange rate of the currency. The export became better and better, so the price became more expensive.

According to this story as an example, if Lin Zuhui knows the future trend of a certain industry, he must not drag his feet, otherwise the price will become more expensive.

He thought about it!
The price of South African shipping (Safmarine), in the past four and a half years (as of early 4), the price is worth 2003 million US dollars; even this price is slightly high, after all, affected by the financial crisis, Europe and the United States have little impact, but shipping The price will also be affected to a certain extent. It can only be said that there is a lot of business on the route. (Export routes to Asia are busy, but import routes are almost losing a lot)
"Do you know the other party's price?"

"It is said to be 6.3 million US dollars! Originally, I wanted to continue to quote 6.5 million US dollars, but I was worried about getting into vicious competition, so I asked the boss for instructions."

Lin Zuhui didn't blame Morris. Calling him didn't mean that others were incapable; on the contrary, Lin Zuhui was very satisfied with this kind of communication, and his sense of existence came out.

Although Morris bid 7 million U.S. dollars and the acquisition was completed, he would not blame him.

"In this way, although South African Shipping is important, it is not absolute. We have a better choice. You tell the people of South African Shipping, 6.88 million US dollars, we have an answer within three days, and it is our final quotation. If the transaction fails, we will withdraw .”

Morris immediately said confidently: "Okay, I believe this price will succeed!"

Lin Zuhui is not deceitful, he really has a better choice, that is the iron and steel industry that accounts for more than 5% of the world's shipping. (PS: Shipping generally refers to container ships and bulk ships, which need to open up fixed routes; as for shipping of iron ore, oil and gas, etc., it is almost mainly ship leasing)
As long as the price is right, if he is slaughtered by someone, he would rather be slaughtered by such a giant.

Moreover, although it seems to be slaughtered, in another four years, when the shipping price doubles, triples, and quadruples, it will be the time for him to laugh.

To be honest, the cycle of shipping is very important, and the prospects of Times Shipping are much bigger than that of Maersk.

Of course, Lin Zuhui only knew that 2008.9 (Lehman) was the big top, and 2016 (Hanjin’s bankruptcy) was the big bottom. The small cycle is not clear.However, he feels that these are enough, and the debt of the group itself is not high.

In 1904, 28-year-old A.P. Muller and his father, Captain Muller, jointly founded the "Svendborg Shipping Company" and purchased a second-hand steamer. The company's first office was located in the village of Anna in Svendborg , which is the predecessor of Maersk.

Maersk McKinney Muller took over as chairman and CEO of the company in 1965, and continued to serve as chairman after retiring from the CEO position in 1993. Behind the scenes, he still participates in some major decisions of the company.Once the richest man in Denmark, he worked hard and had superhuman perseverance. Since then, Muller himself has become a symbol of the group's achievements and is known as "the greatest businessman in Danish history".

Maersk McKinney Mueller has only three daughters, so after the Mueller family has run 'Maersk' for three generations, today's president is Charlie, who is not a Mueller family.

Of course, Maersk McKinney Muller is still behind the scenes, and he is still involved in some of the company's major decisions.

Charlie walked into the office of the old chairman (81 years old). He had great respect for Maersk McKinney Muller, a respected shipping man in the company and even in Denmark.

The old chairman is very healthy, and now he can inspect the ship and steer the ship himself in the stormy seas; in the words of the old chairman, he will participate in the inspection of the ship and steer the ship himself until he dies.

"Chairman, South African Shipping has sent a message asking us to re-quote within three days, otherwise they will complete the contract with Xiangjiang's Times Shipping."

The old Muller raised his head, and said with some surprise: "So, it was the three-day deadline given by the shipping company of that era, so as to make a quick decision?"

Charlie nodded and said, "It should be so! However, the shareholders of South Africa Shipping did not tell us the other party's quotation, but what is certain is that the other party's quotation must be higher than 6.3 million US dollars."

Muller got up, and then paced in front of the desk. Although he was old, he was still healthy, but at this time he was in the state of 'struggling his brains'.

"Shipping is a cyclical business. If the purchase price is high, it will be difficult to make a profit. Times Shipping is an Asian shipping company, and Asia is in financial crisis. They just want to buy the bottom, and they should not quote too high."

Charlie immediately said: "I think so too! Moreover, South African shipping is not a 'necessity' for Maersk, and the bid is too high and it is not in our interest. Therefore, after discussion, we will give a maximum of 6.6 million U.S. dollars!"

Muller frowned and said, "The price is too high! Have you lobbied those shareholders? After all, South Africa Shipping joined Maersk, which has a bigger prospect. At that time, Times Airlines was just a small shipping company in Xiangjiang. It’s just that the group has some money. They don’t have rich shipping experience and company business philosophy.”

Charlie said with a wry smile: "We sent a team and have been in public relations with the South African shipping company for a long time. The shareholders are also very happy with our acquisition. They promised that if the price is similar, they will give priority to us. But this time the time is suddenly so tight, obviously the other party also knows, It will be bad for them to drag it on, so they took the initiative."

Muller finally said: "Let's go for 6.6 million US dollars, which is a very high price! Hey, if this small shipping company didn't disrupt the situation, we could win even 6 million US dollars."

Charlie echoed: "Isn't it? We have already taken a fancy to South African shipping, but we just want to wait for the continued impact of the Asian financial crisis."

Both of them were a little annoyed that the shipping situation of the times was disrupted. After all, in their view, you are a small Asian shipping company, why should you acquire an established shipping company.

three days later.

South African Shipping announced that it would sell itself to "Time Shipping" from Xiangjiang, which immediately attracted the attention of the shipping industry.

Maersk was unwilling to say some "sarcasm" in the media, which made people careless. For example, shipping in South Africa is not a good choice.
In the conference room of South African Shipping.

Morris leads the team and is signing a contract with the senior management of South African Shipping.

"Mr. Koch, we will become colleagues in the future!" Morris said with a smile to Koch, the president of South African Shipping.

Times Shipping is still in the process of expansion, integration, and management. If it hastily merged with South African Shipping, it will bring great losses.

Therefore, after Time Shipping acquired South African Shipping, South African Shipping still operated independently, and Times Shipping only dispatched a small number of personnel.

The plan of Lin Zuhui, Morris and others is to first let the acquired company "operate independently" when the time is right, and then merge and integrate the business of the entire Times Shipping.

This "time is ripe" means that Times Shipping will carry out a "digitalization" and "informatization" of global shipping; at the same time, Times Shipping has a lot of talents and a perfect system.

Koch was originally a minority shareholder and president of South African Shipping, so he is naturally very happy to see Times Shipping's retention, after all, the salary is not cheap.

"It is a pleasure to be a colleague of President Morris. Our management team will continue to uphold the tradition of South African shipping and do our best."

Everyone communicated one after another and quickly became one.

Morris and others used to be elite talents of big shipping companies and celebrities in the nautical industry. There will be no generation gap among them.

Here, Maersk is still very upset about losing a South African shipment.The main reason is that Times Shipping is a shipping company that is not even among the top 20 shipping companies in the world. It actually swallowed the elephant and won the South African shipping from Maersk.

Muller said to Charlie: "It's not a big problem to lose a South African shipping line! Our Maersk is also sailing the South African shipping route, and everyone will be competitors in the future. Our Maersk has advantages in all aspects, so we are bound to be able to suppress the new South African shipping line." Shipping."

He is the richest man in Denmark and the pride of the Danes. He has his own pride in his heart, and he is very annoyed that an Asian company has robbed his favorite shipping company.

Charlie nodded and said, "Chairman, don't worry, we can definitely show them something!"

In fact, the two believe that Times Shipping will directly merge with South African Shipping, and then it will definitely fall into turmoil, and Maersk can snatch its business at that time.

But in fact, South African shipping has done better than Maersk in certain routes, and Maersk is better than Maersk in global business.

The Morris team had no time to celebrate, and immediately flew to the United States after handing over the South African shipping.

Because the boss called, the acquisition of "Sea-Land Services (sea-land container business)" must be settled quickly; this time, the boss especially emphasized that money is not a problem, what is needed is a quick solution to completely defeat Maersk.

Why did Lin Zuhui say that?

It turns out that since 1995, the two shipping companies 'Maersk' and 'Sea and Land Services' have already launched an operating alliance.

This is like, sea and land service is the food in the mouth of Maersk. Sea and land service is "very important" to Maersk, because as long as it is acquired, it can be seamlessly merged immediately.

Moreover, sea and land service is the originator and founder of the world's "container", and has a detached position in the entire container shipping.

So, this time Lin Zuhui was serious and decided to teach Maersk a lesson!
Let Maersk understand that if you have money, you can really do whatever you want!

"What? Times Shipping is serving Sealand, negotiating an acquisition?" The old Muller suddenly cheered up at this moment, and said in disbelief.

Charlie nodded, and said: "That's right! And the sea and land service people didn't inform us, it seems that they are satisfied with the price! If we hadn't cooperated for so long, and I know one of their executives, I'm afraid we are still in the dark middle."

Muller immediately said: "What is the origin of shipping in this era, why is it so generous and aggressive?"

Charlie said: "The parent company is the No. 100 consortium of Xiangjiang, and the boss was the richest man in the world last year. The important thing is, it is said that their parent company has US$100 billion in their accounts, and there are also European and American securities worth US$210 billion. It also built [-] million tons of various ships at one time in South Korea.”

Muller was stunned for a moment. No matter how old he was, he had heard of Lin Zuhui, the richest man in the world. His wealth even surpassed that of America's "proud" and "tech giant" Bill Gates recently (450 [-] million dollars), the result is that the Americans are overjoyed, as if the collective is very proud.

"You fly to the United States immediately and negotiate with Sealand Services, the price, keep in touch with me, we must annex Sealand Services!" Mueller finally said firmly.

Charlie nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to Hailu to serve right away!"

Muller couldn't help but said: "The price must be cautious, keep in touch with me, it can't be too expensive!"

Charlie's morale dropped by half, but he still nodded!

Times Shipping, Maersk, and the two companies once again had malicious bidding, which made Sea and Land Services take control for a while.

Major media also began to report one after another, especially the American media began to hype, expecting to sell high prices for sea and land services.

"A new shipping giant is about to be born, and it is already challenging the number one in the world!" (In fact, even if the acquisition is completed, the combined share of the three companies will only be more than 6%, while Maersk's share is about 10%)

"Maersk, lost the South African shipping, and lost the sea and land service?"

Such slogans emerge in endlessly, aiming to stir up the flames of war!

America.

Morris felt that he was very unlucky, and wanted to acquire two shipping companies properly, so as to make the boss more trustworthy; unexpectedly, Maersk was lingering and chased him from South Africa to the United States.

"Call the boss!" Morris still made a decisive decision.

After all, an acquisition of more than 8 million US dollars is not a small number. If it is more than [-] or [-] million US dollars, he is more or less over-responsible.

Lin Zuhui also felt a little helpless when he heard the news in Xiangjiang. This Maersk was haunted and made him spend a lot of money.

Of course, then again, perhaps others have long regarded these two companies as acquisition targets, but Times Shipping has preempted them.

But Lin Zuhui didn't worry for too long!

On the phone, Lin Zuhui asked: "How much do you think Maersk will give up? Sea-Land Service will have to sell?"

On the other end of the phone, Morris said: "Sea and land services are different from South African shipping, and Maersk will be more determined. I think the price of 10 billion US dollars should make Maersk go back."

"Well, this time we directly open the offer, and we will buy it for 10 billion U.S. dollars, and we will complete it in a week!"

"it is good!"

After hanging up the phone, Lin Zuhui wasn't unhappy at all, and his expression didn't fluctuate!

If the acquisition is completed, he will indeed be cheated out of 3 million US dollars, but he doesn't care, and naturally it won't affect his mood.

If this acquisition is not completed, next year it will acquire the giant Iron Bank Java, and see if Maersk's cash flow can compare with him!
The value of Tiehang Java is at least 15 billion US dollars, and Maersk's cash flow is absolutely insufficient.

"What, bid $10 billion, are they crazy?" Mueller couldn't help raising his voice when he received the call.

How can he acquire a company worth up to 8 million US dollars at a higher price?

Charlie said on the phone: "However, they are already crazy, maybe the Chinese are too rich! And this time they made clear the price of the acquisition, and also said that if there is no clear answer within a week, they will withdraw from the acquisition."

Muller's first reaction was that this was Time Shipping's "making a bureau" to retaliate against "South African Shipping".After all, in that acquisition, Times Shipping was about to complete the acquisition, and Maersk joined the bidding, allowing Times Shipping to win it at a higher price of 8800 million US dollars.

"Sea and land service, what do you say over there?"

"They said they hoped that we would make an offer in a week, even if it was 10.1 billion US dollars, they would agree to our acquisition!"

Muller immediately said: "We are not fooled, sea and land services are not worth the money, up to 8 million US dollars! Let them buy it, and let them regret it in the future!"

Charlie tentatively said, "Maybe the shipping cycle is coming?"

Muller immediately said: "This is just a guess, but it is not worth our risk! Shipping not only depends on the cycle, but more importantly, cherish every penny, so that we can survive the shipping ice season."

Charlie immediately said in admiration, "Okay!"

A week later, many world media have reported that Times Shipping, a shipping company that has not entered the top 20, has annexed two of the world's top ten shipping giants one after another, becoming the world's third-ranked shipping giant (with a share of more than 6%) ).

"Crazy, Asians are crazy! Asia is going through an unprecedented financial crisis, and shipping has also been hit hard. The former richest man in the world seems to be operating against the market. I don't know if he still has that kind of luck. ?”

"Times Shipping is crazy about shipping, buying two shipping companies for 17 billion US dollars, building 17 million tons of various ships for 210 billion US dollars, and this year they have won two European ports. They have already spent more than 36 billion US dollars on shipping. .I just want to say, they are too rich!"

One by one, the news was published in the world's major business newspapers, and there was a lot of discussion for a while.

At the same time, the news also came back to Xiangjiang.

Of course, in Xiangjiang, Lin Zuhui is like a god. In the eyes of investors, his strategy can't be wrong.

Therefore, the shares of New Times Group are still strong. Although the Xiangjiang stock market continued to fall in early June, it has fallen to 6 points as of June 10 (Wednesday), which has reached Lin Zuhui's investment line.

The stock of New Times Group is still in the early 4000 billion Hong Kong dollars, firmly maintaining the "legendary" signboard.

Although Lin Zuhui is not very sad that he spent 2.88 million US dollars more than expected this time, he has no intention of forgetting it.

Maersk’s Liang Zi has already taken over. Before Muller’s death, he will see Times Shipping’s market share surpassing Maersk’s and see Times Shipping making a lot of money.

At the same time, the New Era Group lost a little over 20 billion Hong Kong dollars, and naturally had to find a way to make up for it.

(End of this chapter)