Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 722 [International businessman Lin Zuhui]

London, the headquarters of Iron and Steel Java.

Tiehang Zhahua was originally two shipping companies, namely Tiehang Shipping in the UK and Zhahua Shipping in the Netherlands. The two companies merged in 1996. At present, Tiehang Zhahua has two headquarters, namely London and Rotterdam.

At present, the world's largest container shipping company is 'Maersk', accounting for about 10% of the global market share; followed by Times Shipping, accounting for about 7.5% of the global market share; thirdly, China Iron and Steel Corporation, accounting for 6% of the global market ; No.4 is Mediterranean Shipping, accounting for 5% of the world.

Of course, "container transportation" is only part of the assets of Times Shipping, and there are other ships worth more than 100 billion US dollars, as well as oil and gas transportation business, ports, aircraft leasing, logistics business and so on.

In terms of assets, Times Shipping can buy four or five Maersk Groups.

Smith, the president of China Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., was sitting in his office, seriously looking at an acquisition invitation letter, with an unpredictable expression on his face.

It turned out that Times Shipping issued an acquisition invitation, and hoped to receive a response from China Iron and Steel Company and provide information on the company.

After reading the invitation letter, Smith immediately felt the importance of the matter.

At present, the European and American economies are in a downturn, and shipping will naturally have a certain impact; Times Shipping sent an acquisition invitation at this time, which is somewhat confusing (in fact, most acquisitions are at the peak of the market).

And Smith also knows that Times Shipping has successively annexed several well-known shipping companies and quickly became the second largest container shipping fleet in the world. His decisive style and high bids are incredible.

Because of the style of Times Shipping, Smith knew that this matter needs to be decided at the board of directors, because Times Shipping may win the Iron Bank Java at a very good premium. This is undoubtedly a good thing for the current shipping situation and the shareholders of Iron Bank Java.

The conference room of the iron company Java.

Smith told a group of directors and executives about the acquisition offer of Times Shipping.

"So, our next question is, do you have any idea of ​​selling the iron and steel industry? If so, you need to give Time Shipping a copy of the information and let them take the initiative to quote."

One of the directors took the lead and said: "Of course we have to give Times Shipping information and ask them to quote. Shipping has been sluggish for a long time, and Times Shipping has always liked to buy at a premium. We can also see how their quotations are. If it meets everyone's expectations, we will discuss and accept it. or not."

Another director said: "Yes, send information to Times Shipping first, and then invite Maersk to join the bidding when we get the first quotation from Times Shipping. The choice is ours. If the price premium is high, why don't we sell it?" Woolen cloth?"

"It makes sense! Shipping is too cyclical. Although it is best to choose to sell at the peak of shipping, but considering that there has been no peak in shipping for more than ten years, it is not known when the next peak will come. If there are many With a high premium, we are equivalent to selling the company at the peak, and I remember that the premiums in front of Times Shipping were quite large.”

"Yes, we are No.3 in containers, just like the 'Orange Telecom' back then, which was sold at a sky-high price by Lin Zuhui and Li Chaoren. Similarly, if Times Shipping wins China Iron and Steel, then they will be the No. 1 in the container field. [-]; If Maersk wins Tiehang Java, then Maersk has consolidated its position.”

The directors and high-level executives have expressed their ideas of agreeing to contact. After all, the environment and the acquisition target are all determined. This may be an opportunity.

July, Hong Kong.

In the conference room of the New Times Group, Lin Zuhui was having a meeting with several high-level executives to discuss the acquisition of China Iron and Steel Corporation.

"Has all the information been researched?" Lin Zuhui asked directly.

Morris, the president of Times Shipping, is holding the asset situation of "Iron Corporation Java", which is of course just simple information. It is impossible for others to give you the real and detailed information for such a large-scale acquisition. After all, the two parties are still shipping containers. competitors.

However, although the information is simple, there is no need to suffer, because as the negotiations between the two parties deepen, they will naturally understand more and more; moreover, when signing the contract, they will review each item in detail and finally sign it under the witness of a lawyer.

Morris said: "After research, the value of the iron and steel industry is about 15 billion U.S. dollars, which is affected by the sluggish market. Considering the importance of the iron and steel industry to us, we suggest an initial quotation of 17 billion U.S. dollars. The premium is about 13%.”

Of course, this price is only tentative. Sometimes the acquisition is not as simple as the face value, and there are too many involved; moreover, the shareholders of the company are not stupid, and they will not sell the company at a low price during the shipping downturn. After all, the business and routes are very valuable. of.

Lin Zuhui nodded and said, "Then report the price to them, and then observe the subsequent development."

Morris said: "Okay. We have already prepared an acquisition team in Europe, which is very well prepared. The team has already conducted lobbying activities in the EU officials. I believe there will be little resistance."

Shipping routes involve monopoly, and even if politicians make a big fuss and regard it as a threat to national economic security, it is bound to cause failure.

On this point, Lin Zuhui's team is very versatile and experienced, and such mistakes will not happen.

To put it simply, after many politicians in Europe and the United States retire, Lin Zuhui's companies will extend olive branches and invite them to be consultants or directors of their companies.Even though they have retired, their connections are still there, and sometimes they can be of great use.

At the same time, for every acquisition, Lin Zuhui will make preparations in advance, hire financial companies, lobbying teams, etc., and strive to make the work very detailed.

For example, Lin Zuhui has already asked his subordinates to carry out the layout for nearly a year, and has done a lot of research and investment in personal connections.

Of course, the political influence involved in the acquisition of Iron and Steel Java is relatively small, while the acquisition of Unocal is a very big public relations exercise.

These preparations can only be regarded as "human harmony", and we have to wait for the acquisition conditions created by "right time and place", that is, historical emergencies.

Discussed the acquisition of 'Iron Industry Java' with all the executives, and Lin Zuhui dismissed the meeting.As for the acquisition of the oil company, Lin Zuhui was not in a hurry, so he decided to eat the next one first.

Moreover, it is not necessary to enter the oil field, he is just speculative.

Even if the acquisition of Unocal Petroleum Company is successful, Lin Zuhui will not do anything to harm the United States, because he cannot afford to be offended.Therefore, the management of Unocal will not be changed, the technology will not flow out, the headquarters will not be moved, and it will even be listed in the United States, and will eventually be sold for arbitrage.

It is not a strategic investment, but a value investment, earn a lot of money and leave.

At present, New Times Group has a cash flow of nearly 1800 billion Hong Kong dollars lying in its account, which is the situation after injecting 30 billion U.S. dollars into Times Airlines.

And Lin Zuhui also hopes that these funds can be invested within two years, just in time to usher in the period of rapid global economic development from 2003 to 2008.

Maersk.

"What? Times Shipping is negotiating the acquisition of Tiehang Zhuahua? Are they crazy? They are making a large-scale acquisition at this time." When they learned that Tiehang Zhahua intends to release the news, they invited Maersk to participate in the bid for Tiehang Java, Maersk McKinney Muller said to the president of Maersk with an incredible expression.

Although Maersk McKinney Muller was 84 years old at this time, he was still the chairman of Maersk, and Charlie was the president of Maersk.

Charlie respected Muller and said: "Yes, once they complete the acquisition, they will surpass our market share and reach 13.5%"

The old Maersk was pacing back and forth in the office, and it was difficult to make a decision for a while. After all, the shipping industry has been sluggish in the past few years. It is obviously unwise to let Maersk make a large-scale acquisition at this time.

However, now that the New Era Group is aggressive and intends to overtake Maersk, it clearly annoys him again.

"Didn't it exceed the monopoly line?"

"No, the monopoly line is at 16%, they are still close!"

"It's really annoying. Is that young man really optimistic about the shipping industry? In the past three or four years, he has invested nearly 200 billion US dollars to complete his title of 'World Shipping King'."

"That's right, but they didn't take out any debt, and the debt ratio is said to be very low!"

"What a freak!"

Facing an opponent with a lot of cash flow is somewhat incomprehensible.

In the past few years, Lin Zuhui has made great moves in shipping, which has also led to the acceleration of the overall development of Heung Kong's shipping industry. Many shipowners have seen Lin Zuhui ordering a large number of new ships in Korea and the Mainland, and they have joined in. After all, Lin Zuhui's success is the wind vane.

It can be imagined that if the world's shipping industry recovers in 2003, Xiangjiang Shipping will become the biggest winner.

Lin Zuhui is not worried that if he joins, the number of ships will increase, which will affect the process; in fact, the impact is not great, because the Korean shipbuilding industry has such a large output, and he ordered a large number of ships, which means other people's orders delay.

Moreover, Times Shipping has also acquired a large number of second-hand ships in the market, which will lead to a disguised monopoly of future ship leasing.

From 2003 to 2008, the shipping market was in short supply. There were too few ships, too many orders, and the global economy was booming, so it was difficult to make major changes.

The old Maersk asked, "What do you think?"

Charlie said: "We can only try to make a quotation, but it should not be too high. After all, if the price is too high, and the European and American economies are sluggish, Maersk will cause a series of troubles."

The old Maersk nodded and said: "You are very thoughtful, if that's the case, let's do it according to your wishes!"

"Ok"

At this time, there are only a few people who dare to gamble, but almost no one dares to gamble.

Everyone knows to buy the bottom, but in fact everyone likes to chase the high. In the previous life, Maersk acquired China Iron and Steel Company in 2005 when the shipping industry exploded.

After all, is this bottom a bottom, and how long will this bottom last?

Many people know that the Internet is a historical trend, but not many people dare to invest now. After all, only those who can survive the cold winter have the courage.

Fast forward to 2002.

In January, people in the shipping industry have recently paid attention to the merger of "Times Shipping" and "Tiehang Zhua". There are still many people who pay attention to this matter.

Once the acquisition is successful, Times Shipping will become the undisputed market leader, and the global shipping market will become more monopolized, ushering in the redistribution of shipping capacity and market.

Until mid-January, the outside world was still unable to get any facts about the acquisition from Times Shipping or China Iron & Steel, although several industry veterans had disclosed the inside story to the media.

However, the sign that the shares of Iron & Steel Corporation rose sharply, it proves that Times Shipping is negotiating with Iron & Steel on merger matters.

The famous British shipping daily "Lloyd's Daily" which first disclosed the acquisition said: "This is the largest and most challenging transaction in the field of container transportation so far, and will create a world's largest shipping giant. The scale is much larger than the traditional giant Maersk.”

This judgment was confirmed with unexpected speed.

On the same day the report was published, CETEC delivered a statement to Euronext, Europe's second-largest stock exchange, confirming the talks.

The Netherlands, Headquarters of China Iron and Steel Corporation.

Morris led the team to Rotterdam, which is the real headquarters of CETEC, which should be the IPO of CETEC.

He came here this time with great confidence, because the boss gave him a lot of capital space; from this point of view, the boss should believe that shipping will usher in prosperity.

in the conference room.

Morris said confidently: "We are very eager to merge the two shipping companies, and we also have great sincerity. Therefore, our latest quotation is 22 billion US dollars, which is also our final quotation."

After the price was announced, all executives including Tiehang Zhahua flashed a gleam of joy.

The premium is more than 80%, which is probably already a high quotation during the booming shipping period.And who knows, whether there will be a prosperous period for shipping, after all, since the mid-[-]s, the world has never had a prosperous period for shipping.

Who dares to bet?
Smith said tentatively: "Maersk is still bidding, so I can't give you an accurate answer yet!"

Morris said with a smile: "As far as we know, Maersk has no intention of making any more quotations. They even said that they would let us take advantage of it."

Smith froze, then smiled awkwardly.

The two sides fought again, and the negotiation has already made great progress, and it is expected that the real intention will be completed in the next few days.

late April.

The two companies officially announced that Times Shipping will acquire Iron Bank Java in cash at a price of 42 euros per share, with a total amount of 16.8 billion euros (22 billion U.S. dollars).The agreement is planned to be reached within a few weeks, and the memorandum on all the terms of the cooperation will be announced in the first half of February, and Iron & Steel Java will convene a special general meeting of shareholders in late February.According to the estimates of both parties, the acquisition will be completed between March and April.

A reporter interviewed Times Shipping Morris and asked whether the matter was confident of passing the EU's review.

Morris said confidently: "We believe that we will not encounter too many problems. We will work hard to protect the rights and interests of European employees and promise not to lay off staff."

Times Shipping has mastered the timing, location, and harmony of people, and the acquisition is a certainty.

Hong Kong.

The media have reported the incident of "Times Shipping" acquiring "Iron Corporation Java", and the public feel that the morale of Hong Kong's economy has been greatly boosted after seeing it.

Times Shipping has invested nearly 200 billion US dollars in shipping in the past four years, driving the entire Hong Kong shipping economy. People from all walks of life are looking forward to Times Shipping can bring Hong Kong's shipping industry to a new level.

However, Singapore, the rival of Hong Kong's shipping industry, felt strong pressure and began to frequently use Temasek Capital to acquire global shipping assets.

Cheung Kong Industries.

After reading the news in the newspaper, Li Chaoren couldn't help showing his thoughts.

He was thinking that Times Shipping's large-scale investment in shipping and aviation is obviously Lin Zuhui's behavior in buying the bottom of the market.

"Is shipping really going to explode?"

"The aircraft leasing industry is a good industry. Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa can follow suit. However, we have invested too much in the 3G field, so I am afraid we can only make small troubles."

"To be honest, I really admire his investment methods. But I can't learn from him. I believe that only monopoly industries can make a stable profit, such as electricity, water, 3G, and retail."

Li Chaoren shook his head. He felt that he really didn't dare to invest in shipping (charter). After all, Lin Zuhui had insisted on making big investments for four years.If it hadn't been for New Times Group's hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars in the capital market in those few years, the company would have been in trouble long ago.

In Xiangjiang, only two can be called "international businessmen", that is, Lin Zuhui and Li Chaoren.

As for the Guo Desheng family, Lee Shau Kee family, Cheng Yutong family, etc., they will only invest in Hong Kong and the Mainland, and the absolute core is real estate.

These families did try to invest abroad. In the 80s, they had a lot of real estate investments in Canada, Singapore, and the United States, but later found that the return rate overseas was too poor, so they almost stopped large-scale overseas investment. % of the investment is placed in Huaxia.

In the comparison between Lin Zuhui and Li Chaoren, Lin Zuhui has already surpassed Li Chaoren by a lot. At present, Li Chaoren's achievements are retail (Watsons), telecommunications (mobile business 2G\3G), and ports.

Lin Zuhui's achievements in real estate, hotels, shipping, investment, manufacturing, technology, culture and other fields are all top in the world.

As the Lunar New Year is approaching, Lin Zuhui is also busy inspecting various companies. Generally speaking, the companies continued to grow steadily last year.

After the merger of the media group, the huge potential has exploded. Last year, the profit exceeded 80 billion. If the news is released, it will immediately set off a big wave.

(End of this chapter)