Wolf of Xiangjiang

Time flies, and it is mid-August in a blink of an eye.

On this day, Wheelock Group President Yuan Tianfan and Bahrain Bank Vice President Liang Baitao came to Lin Zhengjie's office together.

Liang Botao was the first to speak: "It is reported that today, Canada's largest mining company Noranda announced that it would suspend the ongoing exclusive acquisition negotiations with China Minmetals Group, and the two parties have not reached an acquisition agreement at present."

The so-called "exclusive acquisition negotiation" means that only the China Minmetals Group will negotiate, and the rest of the parties are not even qualified. The reason for this is that China Minmetals Group offered the highest price at the beginning, so Noranda and China Minmetals concluded the "exclusive acquisition negotiation".

Starting from September 9, for nearly two months, the two parties did not reach an acquisition agreement, so they naturally cancelled the "exclusive acquisition negotiations" and reintroduced new competitors.

Lin Zhengjie said decisively: "Okay, Husky will immediately intervene in the acquisition of Noranda. The two of you will go to Canada first and take my private plane. For this acquisition, I have only one requirement, that is, a quick victory, no more than 2 months. According to my prediction, the prices of copper, nickel and zinc will rise across the board next year, and the rise will be very sharp. So this is a loophole!"

He seemed to remember that Noranda was not acquired the next year, but instead privatized its subsidiary Eagle Bridge. At the same time, the prices of copper, nickel and zinc rose sharply, which led to a sharp increase in the value of Noranda. Finally, it seemed that it was acquired by a Swiss company for US$2006 billion in 160.

At this time, Noranda only needs 60 billion US dollars to be acquired;
Minmetals' bid was only US$52 to 54 billion.

Yuan Tianfan nodded and said, "Okay, Husky and we have been studying this acquisition for a long time, and I believe we will make progress soon."

Lin Zhengjie said: "In short, don't worry that Husky has no experience in operating ore. After all, I plan to continue to use Noranda's management team, and use Noranda as the flagship to continue developing the ore industry!"

"clear"

Afterwards, Lin Zhengjie called to arrange his logistics and asked them to arrange their private plane to take Yuan Tianfan and Liang Botao to Canada to start negotiations with Noranda as soon as possible.

Of course, it was impossible for him to fly with them. After all, Lin Zhengjie never flew with multiple core executives, and his son had only been working for a short time.

For example, Lin Zhengjie did not take the plane with Yuan Tianfan because he believed that if a plane crash occurred, at least one of them could assist Lin Wendong to take the position.

At this time, the Lin family was indeed quite stable. If Lin Zhengjie had an accident, Yuan Tianfan, Chen Weizhong, He Fangtang, Tang Renjian and other senior executives would definitely support Lin Wendong to take over immediately, and there would be no turmoil in the Taifu Group. With Lin Zhengjie's influence and trust in these senior executives, even if Lin Wendong was still in college, he could be invited back to take over.

After Yuan Tianfan and Liang Botao left, Lin Zhengjie was thinking about the acquisition of Noranda in his office. If he wanted to make a quick decision, he had to accommodate the other party in all aspects and show his sincerity.

It doesn’t matter if you are regarded as a fool for a short period of time. After a year, everyone will find out who the fool is!

Two days later, Yuan Tianfan, Liang Botao, Reddy Reynolds and other members of the Husky team arrived at the Noranda headquarters in Toronto.

Woody, the representative of Brascan Group, the major shareholder of Noranda, and Pannell, the president of Noranda, and others are already waiting here.

“Welcome to Noranda”

"Nice to meet you"

The two sides were very warm and friendly when they met, after all, they are both Canadian companies.

Although Husky Energy's major shareholder is Hong Kong's Wheelock Group, it is a Canadian company. First, its headquarters is in Canada; second, its legal representative is Lin Zhengjie's sister, who is a Canadian citizen; and finally, it is listed in both Toronto and New York.

Since being acquired by Wheelock Group, Husky Energy has been working hard to expand globally. Its management team is basically Canadian, not to mention its employees. It has also maintained a good record in terms of workers' rights and human rights.

Therefore, Husky Energy's sudden participation in the acquisition was welcomed and recognized by the Brascan Group and Noranda management; of course, the specific negotiations will depend on the circumstances.

Soon, both sides came to the conference room and started the first round of negotiations.

Pannell first said: "I welcome Husky's acquisition. In view of the recent high metal prices, the improvement of the global economic environment, the company's good operating conditions in the first three quarters, and the recent success of the company in mining exploration. Taken together, I hope your company can offer a price that will attract shareholders."

Liang Botao was the acquisition consultant and negotiator, so he spoke first: "Of course, we come with sincerity. Currently, the value of Noranda's US shares is only 17.65 yuan, and the highest peak this year is 18.88 yuan per share. Noranda's current market value is 52 billion US dollars, and our offer is 57.2 billion US dollars, a premium of 10%."

It is interesting to note that in July this year, Noranda’s stock price reached a peak of 7 yuan, with a market value of about 18.88 billion US dollars; but when Noranda started to sell, the stock price began to fall instead.

Pannell and others felt that Husky's sincerity was very good. After all, they were willing to offer 57.2 billion at the beginning, which was obviously very sincere.

“Was it all cash?”

"All cash is fine. Of course, it would be better if you could accept stocks. After all, Husky's stock potential may be better than Noranda's."

Why? Of course, it’s because of the surge in oil prices.

Pannell immediately said, "All cash is in the best interests of shareholders!"

Liang Botao spread his hands and said, "That's no problem!"

Pannell, Woody and others understood that Husky was now a cash flow machine, and it would be easier for Husky to obtain support from banks, especially its deep cooperation with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Next, Pannell said: "Canadian trade unions have asked the government to add restrictive clauses when reviewing the Noranda transaction in early November, such as retaining all processing plants in Canada and prohibiting the direct import of raw materials from Noranda."

Liang Botao said: "It's not a big problem. My client is originally a Canadian company. After acquiring Noranda, this company will continue to operate independently and retain all management and employees. We will even support this company to continue to develop itself through mergers and acquisitions."

Now, Pannell and other Noranda executives showed their delight, and it was obvious that Husky was the most suitable for this acquisition. Including the previous Vale of Brazil, Anglo American, Xstrata of Switzerland, BHP Billiton of Australia, Phelps Dodge of the United States and Noriask from Russia.

It is obvious that these companies are all acquisitions, but Husky is the only one that intends to develop Noranda sincerely.

Pannell continued, "We already know your sincerity, but we hope you can raise the price a little bit. Of course, you can raise it next time. In addition, what are your requirements for the acquisition?"

This price is already "exclusively negotiable".

But Husky obviously does not intend to do so. Liang Botao said directly: "We have only one requirement, that is, to complete the negotiation and acquisition within 40 days. Otherwise, we will withdraw from the acquisition!"

What this means is that they don't want to delay, because the longer it is delayed, the more beneficial it will be for Noranda.

But Noranda's current major shareholder, Brascan Group, is eager to sell, so this request was easily accepted.

As expected, Woody, the representative of the Brascan Group, immediately said, "No problem, we are very optimistic about the success of this acquisition!"

Next, everyone discussed some details, reached a contract, and signed it. Only one day later, Canada's "Globe and Mail" reported that Husky Energy suddenly intervened in the acquisition of Noranda. It was reported that the offer was very ideal and was willing to accept some additional conditions, making it the most likely target for the successful acquisition of Noranda.

When the news came out, public opinion in Canada, the United States, and China suddenly boiled over.

First of all, in Canada, after all, Husky Energy and Noranda are both local companies, but the major shareholder of Husky Energy is a Hong Kong consortium, which is a well-disguised "foreign-owned enterprise".

Next is the United States. Husky, Brascan Group (which owns 42% of Noranda), and Noranda are all listed in Toronto and New York at the same time, so they are also related to the interests of American shareholders.

Finally, Huaxia. After the exclusive acquisition of China Minmetals Group was lifted, Huaxia Hong Kong immediately intervened. Although it was not an internal conflict, it was undoubtedly a form of competition. Moreover, although Hong Kong capital has always been Huaxia Hong Kong capital, it is still outside the system.

For a time, public opinion was in an uproar!
In fact, according to Canadian law, the government has no right to interfere with or influence the acquisition negotiation process before the acquisition agreement is reached.

However, public opinion often affects the negotiation process, and the public opinion for Husky's acquisition of Noranda mainly came from the 'United Steelworkers Union of North America', 'Members of the Canadian government' and 'public opinion'.

To put it simply: trade unions, government, and public opinion.

Public opinion is actually not very important, but there are government members who represent public opinion.

In addition, according to the Canadian Investment Act, when a foreign company acquires a Canadian company's shares exceeding a certain amount, the transaction must be approved by the Canadian Minister of Industry. Husky is acquiring 100% of Noranda's shares. The Minister of Industry usually makes a decision after considering the impact of the transaction on employment, the extent to which Canadians continue to participate in management, and the impact of the transaction on labor productivity and competition. Of course, Husky has no problem in this regard. After all, Husky has no state capital behind it and will abide by local laws.

In fact, Wheelock Holdings only holds 62% of Husky Energy's shares, and the remaining 8% is in the hands of Lin Zhengjie's sister Lin Jiaxuan, who is a Canadian citizen.

end of June.

Lin Zhengjie came to Canada and met with Canadian Prime Minister Martin, and the two sides had exchanges.

In the conference room, Prime Minister Martin asked very kindly: "Mr. Lin, how many years have you invested in Canada?"

Lin Zhengjie said: "In the past 20 years, I remember that in 1985, our highest investment was in a hotel, an executive four-star hotel called Constellation Hotel. The hotel was not doing well at first, but after we renovated it, it immediately became very profitable. Of course, this was also due to the fact that many Hong Kong people immigrated to Canada at that time."

Prime Minister Martin said: "I know your amazing business skills, and Husky Energy is the best proof of this. So, what do you think of Canada's business environment?"

In this era, there is no global economic confrontation. If Lin Zhengjie remembers correctly, that confrontation did not happen until Donald Trump took office. So even if Lin Zhengjie is a private enterprise in the mainland, he can still be treated well.

Of course, now that Lin Zhengjie is a Hong Kong-funded company, he can naturally move freely in various countries, at least as long as it does not involve any special industries.

"It's great. The development of Husky Energy fully demonstrates this. I personally have deep feelings for Canada. I come here for vacation every year and I know many Canadian friends, such as Sharp, the founder of Four Seasons Hotels."

The conversation between the two was relatively 'unofficial', so it was very natural.

Finally, Prime Minister Martin said: "Therefore, our government has a positive attitude towards Husky's recent acquisition of Noranda. Canada welcomes entrepreneurs like Mr. Lin to invest!"

"Thank you"

The communication between the two sides ended after half an hour. The reason why Lin Zhengjie met with Martin was mainly to achieve certain strategic goals.

The difficulty of acquiring Noranda does not lie in all Noranda shareholders. After all, it is nothing more than a matter of money. The biggest problem is the union, the government, and public opinion. Now that Prime Minister Martin has publicly expressed his support, there is no big problem on the government side.

Of course, it is not ruled out that some members of parliament may jump out to oppose, but as long as public opinion is controlled within an effective range, there will be no big problem.

Lin Zhengjie came to Husky's headquarters and held talks with Liang Botao, Reddy Reynolds and others. Yuan Tianfan had already returned to Hong Kong. After all, he was the president of Wheelock Group and it was impossible for him to waste too much energy on this matter.

"What is the public opinion outside?"

Husky President Reddy Reynolds then said:
"On the union side, Canadian president Ken Newman said the Canadian government should adopt an active industrial policy to protect and develop Canada's resources and related industries. He believes the government should be cautious about foreign acquisitions of Canadian companies unless there is sufficient evidence that the acquisition will bring 'net benefits' to Canada."

"There is not much opposition from other parties. After all, Husky Energy does not have a national background compared to China Minmetals Corporation, and Husky is a public company listed in Toronto and New York."

Lin Zhengjie nodded. It seemed that the acquisition was a sure thing!

However, we still cannot let our guard down, saying: "We can publicize in the Canadian media that Husky's motivation for this acquisition is based on the company's own ideal profitability and ideal profit expectations for a long time in the future. Secondly, after Husky Energy acquires Noranda, it will maintain the existing management and staff system and will not harm the interests of every Noranda employee. Finally, after acquiring Noranda, it will seek to continue investing in mining."

Take the initiative to express your views and reduce the impact of public opinion.

"Okay, I understand!"

Subsequently.

Lin Zhengjie said to Liang Botao: "How much has the price been negotiated?"

Liang Botao said: "US$57.2 billion, but we have said that we will make a new offer in early December. My idea is US$12 billion, and we will try to reach a final price agreement."

Lin Zhengjie nodded. He really didn't care much about the price.

But he asked, "What about Citibank and the Canadian Imperial Bank?"

Liang Botao said: "We have joined the acquisition and agreed to provide a loan!"

In fact, he was not short of money. After all, Lin Zhengjie had his own bank and could even borrow money privately. The interest earned was good anyway. However, in order to ease the pressure of the acquisition, it was a wise move to involve Citibank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

"Okay, everyone, complete this acquisition as soon as possible. I'm waiting for your good news!"

"Yes, boss"

At this time, Lin Zhengjie's meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Martin was also published in Canadian newspapers.

Obviously, the media thought that this was Lin Zhengjie coming to cheer. (End of this chapter)