Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 695 [Competitors]

After more than half a year of sharpening their swords, Heung Kong Telecom formally formed an acquisition team and initiated an acquisition invitation to Great East Telegraph, the parent company of Optus Communications, the second largest telecommunications company in Australia.

Australia is one of the most developed countries in the telecommunications industry in the Asia-Pacific region.But before July 1997, there were only three telecommunications companies in Australia: Telstra, Optus Wired and Wireless Communications and Vodafone.On July 7 of the same year, Australia promulgated the "Telecommunications Act 7" and formulated a "comprehensive competition" development strategy. Its main purpose is to fully introduce market mechanisms, enhance the long-term interests of users, and improve the international competitiveness of the Australian telecommunications industry.

The federal government opened and privatized one-third of the shares of Australian Telecommunications Corporation, and issued licenses to 81 companies with network infrastructure to operate local, international, mobile, satellite and other telecommunications services. Since then, the telecommunications industry, especially mobile communications Development is extremely rapid.

Optus Limited is Australia's second largest telecommunications company and a full-service operator, its business includes mobile phones, domestic long distance, international long distance, local calls, international calls, business network services, Internet, satellite services and subscriptions Television, which operates three satellites for domestic use in Australia.

The parent company of Optus Communications was the parent company of Hong Kong Telecom, Great East Telegraph and Telegraph.

However, at this time, the Great Eastern Telegraph and Telegraph Office in the United Kingdom was having a difficult time. It managed to earn hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars, but lost all its investment in the Internet, and its own market value was only tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars.

Although Hong Kong Telecom was not spared from this round of slump, it only fell from a market value of 5000 billion to a little over 2000 billion Hong Kong dollars. It has to be said that all companies that Lin Zuhui messed with are sought after.

But then again, since New Era Group took over Hong Kong Telecom, Hong Kong Telecom has exuded endless potential.

First of all, Hong Kong Telecom has always been at the forefront of Asia in new-generation businesses such as PCC, broadband Internet access, and video information;
Secondly, Hong Kong Telecom has recently successively invested in Internet companies such as Du Niang in the Mainland, allowing investors to see the second Jingwei Capital;
Finally, Heung Kong Telecom is one of the most advanced and efficient telecom operators in the world, with huge development potential.

Hong Kong Telecom.

In the conference room, Lin Zuhui was making the final mobilization.

"With this acquisition, Heung Kong Telecom is also breaking through the regional scope. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, we will continue to expand our business by investing in telecommunications companies in the Asia Pacific."

Of course, the follow-up investment in telecom assets is no longer wholly-owned or controlling, and only needs to invest in a certain amount of shares and obtain a seat on the board of directors.

Everyone nodded. In the conference room, nearly half of the seats were occupied by foreigners, and the CEO was Avelon from Australia.After all, Heung Kong Telecom was originally established by the British. If it were not for the later localization needs, there would not be so many Chinese executives.

Lin Zuhui continued: "Averon, what do you think is the biggest difficulty in this acquisition? What preparations do you have?"

Avalon immediately said: "There are two biggest difficulties in this acquisition. First, other competitors will usher in and fall into a premium; second, since Optus Communications is a full-field telecommunications business (fixed network, mobile, satellite Submarine cables, broadband Internet access, etc.), the Australian government is the key to the final acquisition, especially involving submarine cables and satellite communications, and even the Australian military.”

Lin Zuhui nodded. He is not confident that this acquisition will be successful, but he will still go all out.

"The first one is not difficult. At present, the telecommunications assets are plummeting, and the competitors are not stupid; and for Hong Kong Telecom, if the acquisition of Optus Communications is successful, it means becoming a top ten telecommunications company in the world. This is a rare opportunity, even if the price is high. I will find a way to make some financial arrangements or investments later, so I can make up for it.”

There was a look of surprise on everyone's face. Who doesn't know that this person likes financial investment very much. The key to increasing the financial strength of the company is that almost all of them are successful.

"The second difficulty is what you need to solve. This acquisition requires more cooperation with local Australian syndicates, financial institutions, and law firms. If you encounter these problems, you need to communicate more with the Australian government and sign some memorandums to resolve their concerns. .”

Avalon nodded seriously, and said: "No problem, I have worked in Telstra for many years, and I believe this acquisition has a great chance of success. We have already established a local company in Australia, which can avoid some sensitive issues and public opinion."

In fact, the only competitor for this acquisition is Sing Tao Telecom.

Because of the ZZ factor, Lin Zuhui felt that Heung Kong Telecom was an advantage, not a disadvantage!
Because the 76% stake behind Sing Tao Telecom is Temasek, which is the government's holding, the Australian government is more worried about the new government's interference in Australia's national defense;

On the contrary, the major shareholder of Heung Kong Telecom is New Times Group (49%), and the major shareholder is a business group.

The reason why Lin Zuhui is worried is because the submarine cable of Optus communication seems to be involved in the "Prism-Mirror Project" to monitor the West.

But he also believes that by signing the memorandum, the Australian military will feel that it has the initiative and it will not be an obstacle.

in fact.

Hutchison Telecom has entered Australia in the 80s, but it is only a mobile operator (mobile phone business), and does not have fixed-line and broadband services.

There are 4 major mobile operators in Australia: Telstra, Optus Ltd, Vodafone Australia and Hutchison Australia Ltd (Hutchison). They are: Telstra accounts for about 45% of the market share, with 630 million users, and Optus Communications Company ranks second, with a share of about 31%, and the number of users is 430 million.
The mobile business of most countries in the world is issued through external bidding, which is very open.Because the government also wants to obtain huge income through bidding for licenses (2G, 3G, frequency types), and improve the country's telecommunications technology through competition.

In July and August of this year, Hutchison Telecom was very ambitious and united several consortiums to win the 3G licenses of Germany and the UK, each of which cost more than 40 billion pounds. However, Li Chaoren was very smart. After winning the German 3G license , He felt a little guilty, and finally called Europe again, saying that he wanted Hutchison Telecom to withdraw from the consortium.

As a result, Li Chaoren was really powerful. In September, the global Internet and telecommunications assets plummeted, and Hutchison Telecom avoided a lot of losses.

Of course, Hutchison Telecom is not giving up 3G. After all, the British 3G license cost 44 billion pounds; it just reduces the huge investment in Germany, and will continue to invest in 3G licenses in other countries in the future.

Unlike Li Chaoren's idea, Lin Zuhui's idea is to win Optus Communications, so that Hong Kong Telecom is no longer limited to cities with more than 600 million people; as for the 3G mobile license, but only limited to Australia and Hong Kong.

As for investing in telecommunications assets, I chose to invest in Southeast Asia, not for the purpose of holding shares, but for strategic investment.When the time is right, more than a dozen countries and regions have been recruited to form a telecommunication union.

It's called influence.

Of course, this is also based on the strength of Hong Kong Telecom, which is one of the most advanced telecommunications companies in the world. Hong Kong Internet is also among the top five in the world, whether it is network speed or penetration rate.

October.

The news that Xiangkong Telecom is negotiating with Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph to acquire Australia's Optus Communications has attracted worldwide attention for a while after media reports.

The citizens of Xiangjiang are also talking about it.

"It's a bit unwise for Hong Kong Telecom to acquire telecom assets at this time!"

"What do you know, Mr. Lin Zuhui is good at buying bottoms, maybe he is waiting for the Internet and telecommunications assets to plummet, and then buying the bottoms, and waiting for the market to turn prosperous, wouldn't it be a big profit."

"It makes sense!"

"I don't think it's that simple. The reason why Heung Kong Telecom wants to acquire Australia's Optus Communications is because it wants to break through the problem of Heung Kong's small territory. If the acquisition is completed, Heung Kong Telecom will become a world-class telecommunications company in one fell swoop. Let's take a look, Heung Kong Telecom recently For more than a year, we have carried out many new businesses and are committed to overseas development. If you ask me, with Mr. Lin Zuhui's consistent style, he will definitely expand overseas."

"Then can you buy the shares of Hong Kong Telecom?"

"Well, things don't seem right recently, and I'm not too sure."

The news spread to Xingdao.

Yang Li urgently summoned the executives of Sing Tao Telecom to discuss countermeasures.

Heung Kong Telecom suffers from a small territory, so is Sing Tao Telecom; what's more, Sing Tao Telecom has developed overseas at a very early stage, and its overseas business is much larger than that of Heung Kong Telecom.

"If you miss this time, Sing Tao Telecom's overseas development will be greatly hindered, and it will actually help Hong Kong Telecom's overseas development. Therefore, I think we should go all out and initiate a takeover offer to Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph."

Some executives reminded: "Telecom assets are plummeting, and our opponent is the big conglomerate New Times Group. We all know that Lin Zuhui is a person who is good at acquisitions, and he is also a strong opponent with high bids. And once the acquisition The capital is too high, coupled with the dilution of Optus Communications, the overall performance efficiency of Sing Tao Telecom will be greatly reduced."

Many executives nodded. They had to consider the cost issue, because Sing Tao Telecom's profitability is very important.

On the contrary, for Lin Zuhui himself, he felt that it was not a problem to buy expensive, and he came back after operating a few around; what Lin Zuhui cared about was the size of the company and the influence it brought to him; How should the industry go in the future to make more money.

An executive said: "Yes, it's not about not participating in the acquisition, but about not being caught in a malicious bid with Lin Zuhui, so as not to buy too expensive. The important thing is that Optus communication involves some ZZ factors, and we should be able to operate it. After all, it is not Jiuhui. Seven years ago, Heung Kong Telecom and New Era Group both had Chinese elements, and perhaps our Sing Tao has more advantages!"

Yang Li said: "Are you talking about spreading public opinion unfavorable to Heung Kong Telecom behind your back?"

He had no intention of refusing. He had tried the bitter fruit of failure in the Hong Kong Telecom incident last time, so he wanted to stand up and fight a good battle.

At the same time, the acquisition of Optus Communications is also crucial to Sing Tao Telecom.

The executive said: "Yes! This acquisition is not only related to the Dadong Telegraph Office. The attitude of the Australian government is very important, and it even involves the Australian military. Later, assuming that we do not have an advantage in price, we can Create some public opinion."

Yang Li nodded and said, "Okay! Let's join the acquisition first, and keep this plan."

Evelyn brought his team to the London Great East Telegraph Headquarters for the second time.

The Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph Bureau made a huge profit of more than 1300 billion Hong Kong dollars from New Era Today, including 100 billion U.S. dollars in cash. As a result, the new board of directors continued the idea of ​​taking office and invested all the funds in Internet companies, resulting in a large loss. The entire Dadong The telegraph office was not having a good time either.

Because of this, when the Dadong Telegraph Bureau received the invitation, it did not refuse, but directly negotiated the price.

In the conference room, Avelon said: "Chairman Lavik, the value of telecommunications assets is still depreciating, and we still maintain our sincerity. The price of privatizing Optus Communications for 80 billion US dollars is very high."

Optus Communications is a listed company, but as long as Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph agrees to be privatized (60%), the remaining minority shareholders will not be able to make waves.

Ravic asked directly: "The price is still a little lower, and we want all cash!"

Avalon knew that the current shares of Xiangjiang Telecom did not preserve their value, and the Dadong Telegraph Bureau would definitely not want a share.

However, he still smiled and said: "As far as we know, the New Times Group you acquired in the last Hong Kong Telecom transaction has generated certain profits. If it weren't for that batch of stocks, the life of Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph would have been even more difficult. Come on!"

At that time, it was about 550 billion shares of New Times Group. At present, the market value of New Times Group is 8600 billion Hong Kong dollars. Dadong Telegraph has not yet started to reduce its holdings, but it is still worth nearly 700 billion.

It is conceivable that Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph has made a lot of money in this life, but in the previous life Li Zekai gave Yingke stocks, and as a result, Dadong Telegraph and Telegraph has lost all their underwear.

"We are very grateful to Mr. Lin for the stock, which is probably the best investment," Lavick said with a smile.

A kind of executives of Dadong Telegraph Bureau nodded one after another, and even wanted to say, why didn't they give all the shares of New Times Group in the first place!In that case, the Dadong Telegraph Bureau will not lose tens of billions of dollars.

At the same time, the Dadong Telegraph Bureau is also selling the shares of New Era Group, because the loss is too large, and the money needs to be embezzled to repay the debt.

Avalon said: "Since the friendship between the two is so good, we still hope to reach a deal of 80 billion US dollars. We can use all cash, but we need the approval of the Australian government before we can make a formal deal."

Ravik said quickly: "NONONO, one yard for one yard, at least 85 billion US dollars, we will agree to sell."

Avalon said: "You are cashing out the shares of New Times Group, which is undoubtedly where we are needed"

Well, the executives of the Dadong Telegraph Bureau were dumbfounded, and even thought that it was Lin Zuhui who instructed Ai Weilang to threaten.

"82 billion US dollars, if no one pays more than you, we will officially agree!"

The two sides fought again and again, and almost reached a preliminary agreement.

Of course, this is only a preliminary agreement, Dadong Telegraph is not stupid, someone offered a higher price, why not sell it at a higher price!
It can only be said that at the same price, they may take care of the New Era Group, which has a happy cooperation.

Of course, the money for this acquisition was paid by Hong Kong Telecom.

On the other side, Sing Tao Telecom came to the door and also proposed its own quotation of 76 billion US dollars.

Yang Li refused to hold a higher price, because he felt that the telecommunications assets were still plummeting, and he was worried that the price would be too expensive.

At the same time, everyone understands that this acquisition is not so easy to close the contract.

The Australian official is not the official of Xiangjiang, and the Australian official will consider ZZ factors.

At the beginning, the Xiangjiang government clearly stated that it would not interfere with commercial activities.

(End of this chapter)