The Industrial Giant Reborn.

Chapter 211 Jardine Acquires Wheelock?
The acquisition of Qizhou Yingni is just an episode. For this kind of non-core company, Chen Zhiwen does not pursue absolute privatization and 100% holding. Besides, when the time comes in the future, the most core industries such as Midea and Red Bull will also Capable shareholders need to be properly introduced.

At the beginning of October, Hutchison officially took control of Qizhou Yingni, and the Kane family won a board seat, but everyone knows that a board seat is meaningless in the face of absolute controlling rights.

Subsequently, Qizhou Yingni sold the old land in Hung Hom to Hutchison Whampoa at a market price of 1500 million Hong Kong dollars, and Qizhou Yingni's cement business was also merged into Hutchison Infrastructure. Although the benefits are not great, at least The cost of purchasing cement for Hutchison Infrastructure is much lower.

As for the operation of the cement factory, Hutchison did not touch anyone, and everything remained the same, but a few British people in it resigned voluntarily, allowing a few capable Chinese to take the opportunity to take over.

Unknowingly, within half a month, the acquisition of Qizhou Yingni seemed to have become history, and no one paid any attention to it.

After Hutchison bought the land in Yingni, Qizhou, he immediately started negotiations with the Hong Kong government to transfer the land from industry to business at a normal price. As long as the requirements are not excessive, the Hong Kong government will generally agree. The following are some details.

The whole market didn't care much about how Hehuang would deal with Qizhou Yingni, but there was a group of people who believed that after Hehuang acquired Qizhou Yingni, they would definitely carry out privatization operations, because this was Chen Zhiwen's consistent style, but this time It is obviously invalid. After Hutchison acquired the Hung Hom land in Yingzhou Yingni, it has already stated that it will not privatize it. In addition, it seems that there is only a cement factory left in Yingni in Qizhou. This has caused the stock price to plummet. Few speculators suffered heavy losses.

However, this only affected a small group of people in the market, and half a month later, an earth-shattering event happened in a shopping mall in Hong Kong:

John Madden, chairman of the board of directors of Wheelock, officially announced that he has invited Jardine Matheson and Landmark, and proposed a comprehensive acquisition of Wheelock, which is currently underperforming, before the end of October.

As soon as the news came out, there was a sensation in the whole of Hong Kong.

The four major foreign firms in Hong Kong used to be Jardine, Hutchison, Swire and Wheelock. Among them, Jardine has the strongest strength. It not only has a large amount of business overseas, but just one Landmark is an invincible existence. The core of Hong Kong In Central, Hongkong Land’s properties are everywhere, collecting hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars in rent every year. After a year of hard work by other companies, each building is a very high-quality asset.

The second is Swire. The core business of Swire Pacific is to monopolize the airline Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, control the Coca-Cola OEM business in Hong Kong and several nearby Asian countries, port and ship repair business, and real estate with a large number of high-quality real estate. The company, including airlines, is very large. However, the oil crisis in the past few years was a fatal blow to the global aviation industry. Cathay Pacific also lost a lot. Fortunately, it has returned to normal in the past year. As for the beverage business, Although it looks ordinary, it has a large volume and basically no loss, which is the highest quality business. In terms of real estate, Taikoo City alone is the envy of countless people.

Before being acquired, Hutchison and Wheelock belonged to the same level. They were both very large, but they did not have any core business that could be sold.

For example, Wheelock, the shipping business is very good, but not as good as Bao Yugang and Dong Haoyun, and the real estate business is not bad. There are two buildings in Central, and there are many lands in other places, but there is a certain gap compared with Landmark and even Swire Properties. , In terms of retail department stores, there is a high-end brand Lane Crawford, and Lane Crawford controls Dah Sing Department Store and Zhonghua Department Store among the four largest department stores in China, and is involved in retail businesses such as antiques, jewelry, and cosmetics.

In fact, any company is not small in scale, but it seems too weak in the hands of a giant company like Wheelock.

However, although Wheelock has many disadvantages, it is undeniable that it has a large scale. In the whole of Hong Kong, the people who work in Wheelock and the companies it controls are at least [-] yuan.

If Jardine Matheson acquires Wheelock, it will be able to reach a new level in terms of scale and influence, and even suppress Hong Kong's quasi-central bank HSBC.

Hong Kong, HSBC Headquarters:

Shen Bi frowned as he watched the news he received suddenly, and remained silent for a while. Diss beside him was also silent, thinking about the changes and what HSBC could do.

"What do you think?" Shen Bi broke the silence and asked.

"Jardines must not be allowed to annex Wheelock. Even now, Jardine often opposes us on the board of directors. If Jardine is allowed to acquire Wheelock, then Newbikin will not be able to ride on our heads?" Diss thought I want to say.

Although HSBC is large in scale, larger than Jardine + Landmark + Wharf, HSBC is also a listed company. Although the Hong Kong government has imposed legal restrictions on HSBC’s shareholders for protection, HSBC also has a large number of directors. He Group is also one of the directors of HSBC.

Although in the Western business model, the management has a higher right to speak, but on the board of directors, one of the directors is always opposed to it, and no one is happy.

"But how to stop this? Forced debt? Although both Jardine and Wheelock owe HSBC loans, but with Jardine's network, they can find other banks to transfer the debt. If we push too much, it will only be self-defeating." Shen Bi frowned and said.

Although HSBC is powerful, Jardine's loan business also accounts for a large share of HSBC's revenue. In addition, the other party is also a director of HSBC, and the trouble is too stiff, which is not good for them.

"It is not suitable for us to come forward in person. This is not in line with the rules set by the Hong Kong government for us." Diess said: "The only way is to find other people to come forward, for example, Chen Zhiwen."

"Chen Zhiwen? Do you want him to come forward to acquire Wheelock? This is even worse. Although the scale of assets under his umbrella is not as good as Jardine Matheson's, the potential is too great. If we get Wheelock again, we may cultivate a An opponent bigger than Jardine." Shen Bi shook his head quickly and said.

If there was regret medicine, Shen Bi would probably have taken it long ago. In Chen Zhiwen's initial period, HSBC should not have helped him, but things have come to this point, and nothing can be changed, but Chen Zhiwen must not be allowed to buy another large British-funded company .

"It is not for Chen Zhiwen to acquire Wheelock, but for us to provide him with more resources, but the premise is that he can confront Jardine in other places, rob Jardine of other resources, or consume Jardine's funds." said Diess.

"You mean their supermarket competition?" Shen Bi said after recalling.

"This is one of them, but just relying on this supermarket business, at most it will make Jardine feel uncomfortable, and it will not hurt the foundation of Jardine. As for where to start, we have to discuss it with Chen Zhiwen. We also need to consider It's Chen Zhiwen's choice." Diess replied.

"In such a short period of time, let Chen Zhiwen and Jardine work against each other without paying a certain price. Chen Zhiwen will not agree, and if he can acquire Wheelock, Jardine will not give up at will." Shen Bi said.

"Another way is to guide overseas giants to participate. As long as there is competition, Wheelock's board of directors will naturally choose a higher price. We all know that Jardine's current economic situation is not good. As long as the competition is fierce, we will continue to If you get stuck on the loan a little, Jardine may retreat in spite of the difficulties." Diess said.

"That's the only way to go. Let's fight together. In this way, you go and meet with Chen Zhiwen, see what he wants, and then how to do it. I will be responsible for the overseas situation." Shen Bi thought for a while. Said that HSBC, as a quasi-central bank, cannot acquire companies without problems for no reason. If they cannot do so, they can only indirectly rely on other companies.

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(End of this chapter)