Wolf of Xiangjiang

In April 2011, the continued implementation of quantitative easing monetary policy in the United States once again became a major factor affecting the international gold market. In order to avoid losses caused by inflation, investors invested in the gold market, which further drove up gold prices and finally climbed to more than US$4 per ounce.

Lin Zhengjie immediately arranged for his "Lin Zhengjie Family Office" and "Horizons Ventures" to begin a 24-month selling spree. The two companies each held 500 tons of gold; 500 tons of which were stored in Hong Kong, and the other 500 tons were stored in Switzerland and London.

Today, the total value of these 1000 tons of gold exceeds 520 billion US dollars. If it is discovered, it will be a "time bomb". Therefore, it took nearly three years to acquire it, and half of it was purchased from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is Lin Zhengjie's base camp, and there is a powerful country behind him, so there is naturally no need to worry about the safety of gold. As for the 500 tons of gold in Switzerland and London, the two companies purchased them in batches, separate accounts, and offshore, and then deposited them in several banks.

Of course, many people must have known about the huge purchase volume, but they just didn’t know the exact number.

How much is 1000 tons of gold?

Generally speaking, a country's central bank only purchases dozens of tons of gold a year. For example, the Bank of Thailand purchased 2010 tons of gold in 60, making it the second largest purchaser among the world's central banks. In 2009, the Reserve Bank of India purchased 200 tons of gold in a single transaction, which directly drove up the gold price because it is a weather vane.

Of course, the national central bank only represents one institution, and the purchasing volume of the entire country or region will be much larger.

Taking Hong Kong as an example, it imports about 400 tons of gold a year; but this data does not include the amount imported by the mainland from Hong Kong, because if the mainland imported gold from Hong Kong that year, then the figure for that year might have been much larger.

Hong Kong is a self-owned trading port with very low import and export tax rates, so it is normal for the mainland government to import gold from Hong Kong.

Similarly, it would not be a problem for Lin Zhengjie to sell 500 tons of gold in Hong Kong within two years. In addition, he has his own channels such as commercial banks, investment banks, and jewelry brands.

In the study room of No. 75 Deep Water Bay, Lin Zhengjie held another meeting with the second wife.

He generally doesn't like to talk about work at home, but if there is something important, he will hold a meeting in the study.

At this time, Lin Zhengjie was holding the asset status statement of Chinese Estates Holdings in his hand.

"The asset value has increased significantly compared to last year, and the revalued assets are HK$1220 billion. In terms of liabilities, the total is HK$225 billion, including the HK$160 billion loan you took out for privatization last year."

The valuable properties owned by Chinese Estates in Hong Kong include four buildings - World Trade Centre and Windsor House in Causeway Bay, Harcourt House in Wan Chai, THE ONE in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, as well as other properties including two buildings in Kowloon, a luxury building in Mid-Levels, several office buildings in Central, etc.

But in fact, Hong Kong's assets only account for 4%, mainland assets account for 4%, and European and American assets account for 1%. The mainland assets also include Xie Liyuan Jewelry.

Ma Yawen said: "I have 10 billion US dollars in cash in my personal investment companies!"

The asset value of her personal investment company has dropped significantly in recent years. First, she donated 50 billion Hong Kong dollars to Main; second, she sold four US stocks and properties and raised 10 billion US dollars.

So after taking the 10 billion US dollars in cash, Ma Yawen's personal investment companies probably had more than 20 billion US dollars in assets left; and among them was the Asia Securities Building in Wan Chai (formerly the Navy Building, the Evergrande Center in its previous life).

Lin Zhengjie said: "This acquisition of F&N Group may require 150 billion US dollars!"

Ma Yawen was stunned and said quickly: "No way, although Frasers Group is the fourth largest listed company in Singapore, its market value is only more than 90 billion US dollars."

The two sons were also stunned. 150 billion US dollars is equivalent to a Chinese real estate investment!

Lin Zhengjie said: "For this acquisition, we must be determined to win and be prepared. Of the 150 billion US dollars, you only need to prepare 10 billion US dollars; Chinese Estates can obtain a low-interest loan of 60 billion US dollars, and I will personally support you with another 80 billion US dollars. After the acquisition, the debts of Chinese Estates and Frasers Group will be more than 100 billion US dollars, and the debt ratio will be more than 30%, which is not a big problem."

From 2011 to 2017, the value of Hong Kong's assets will appreciate by more than 1%, and the value of mainland assets will appreciate even more, so there is no need to worry about debt issues at all.

Maya Wen said shyly: "We are really taking advantage of you by asking you to take out 100 billion US dollars all at once!"

Lin Zhengjie corrected him, "What do you mean by us? You are all my wife and son, there is no need to divide them. It is because there happened to be such an opportunity and we need to move that we made this arrangement."

After this round, Mayawen’s future assets will reach more than 300 billion US dollars!
It seems to be similar to Li Jiacheng's previous life, but in fact he has too many hidden assets, probably about 1000 billion US dollars.

"Um"

"Thank you dad"

After the discussion, Lin Zhengjie planned to hire Liang Botao as a financial advisor for Ma Yawen, and also ask Yuan Tianfan, He Fangtang and others to help with advice.

The acquisition of F&N Group is bound to create a huge storm!

Three months later.

Lin Zhengjie, Ma Yawen, Liang Botao, Yuan Tianfan, He Fangtang, Lin Wenyi and Lin Wenkai discussed the formal acquisition of Frasers Group on the superyacht Jin Yu Man Tang in Singapore waters.

Liang Botao said, "Mr. Lin, we have investigated the specific situation of Frasers Group in detail in the past few months. Frasers Group is the fourth largest listed company in Singapore. Its businesses include Frasers Real Estate, printing media, beverage industry, securities brokerage, and beer. It is very rare to have such a wide range of businesses."

"Many of the beverages, juices and milk consumed by Singaporeans come from this group, including the world-renowned sports drink 100Plus."

“In terms of real estate, in 1987, we teamed up with Goodman Fielder Wattie to take over a company called Cold Storage Holdings, which gave us a direct ticket to the real estate business. Cold Storage Limited, which started out as a food and beverage and printing company, started its real estate business as early as 1963 with The Centre Point on Orchard Road.

“In 1988, Frasers separated the real estate division of Cold Storage Limited and packaged it into Centrepoint Properties Limited (CPL), which was successfully listed on the Singapore Exchange. With Frasers’ high hopes in the real estate sector, CPL went on a fast track after its listing, rapidly expanding its industrial and commercial footprint.

In 1992, CPL completed its first office project, Alexandra Point. 20 years later, the building is still a landmark in downtown Singapore. CPL also acquired the former Tiger Brewery site from APBL for S$8550 million and established Blocks AB of Alexandra Technopark in 1997, laying the foundation for Singapore's high-tech industrial park. A large number of well-known companies have settled here, such as the office of Google's Asia Pacific headquarters.

"F&N Group owns about 41% of Asia Pacific Breweries, which produces many beer brands. For example, Heineken in Europe is produced in Asia by F&N. Of course, the most famous Singaporean beer Tiger Beer in Asia Pacific is its brand."

After introducing this, Lin Zhengjie immediately said: "So, once we acquire F&N Group, Heineken Group Europe will definitely be very nervous, because Asia Pacific Brewing holds the secret of Heineken beer!"

Liang Botao nodded and said, "Yes, Heineken Europe holds a 41% stake in Asia Pacific Brewing, the same as F&N Group. Do you want this one or not?"

Lin Zhengjie said: "Of course."

If we don't want it, we won't spend 150 billion US dollars. It's all in Lin Zhengjie's plan. Liang Botao nodded and said, "The value of Asia Pacific Brewing Group is estimated to be 80-100 billion US dollars! If we want it, we will naturally acquire other shares of Asia Pacific Brewing Group and some shares of Frasers & Neave. We will first ignite Asia Pacific Brewing Group, indicating that we will acquire it first; then suddenly announce the acquisition of the entire Frasers & Neave Group, which will definitely catch Heineken beer off guard."

Lin Zhengjie said, "Are you worried that it will be difficult to acquire Asia Pacific Brewing Group?"

Liang Botao nodded and said, "At least Heineken beer cannot be sold, and they have taken the initiative in Asia Pacific Beer!"

That’s right. If the acquisition of Asia Pacific Brewing Group fails, we should think of a way out!
To be honest, Lin Zhengjie has always wanted to enter the beer industry, but he has never had the opportunity. It would be great if he could really get the Asia Pacific Breweries Group, or Tiger Beer.

"Okay, just do your best and give priority to F&N Group!"

"Ok"

Afterwards, everyone started a more heated discussion.

After all, acquisition is only the first step. What is important is how to restructure assets and how to develop after the acquisition. Otherwise, relying solely on acquisitions will mean losing money.

A true acquisition expert is one who can maximize the efficiency of the group after the acquisition and develop the acquired assets better.

Another three months passed.

In October 2011, Hong Kong Chinese Estates Holdings announced that it held a 10% stake in Frasers Group (sold by Singapore's government investment company GIC), and also owned 22% of Asia Pacific Breweries, and initiated a full acquisition of Asia Pacific Breweries.

The European Heineken Group was horrified and its president rushed to Singapore, which led to a head-on confrontation between China Estates and Heineken, Europe's largest brewer.

Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) is the focus of the confrontation between the two parties. The group was jointly invested and established by Frasers & Neave and Heineken Group in 1931. It owns 14 breweries and 30 brands in 40 countries. Heineken beer and another well-known Tiger beer are both produced by it.

Shortly thereafter, Heineken also hoped to invest US$41 billion to acquire approximately 41% of the shares of Asia Pacific Breweries under F&N Group.

Chinese Estates Holdings subsequently launched a full acquisition of Frasers Group, with an initial offer of US$120 billion!
At one time, many people understood that Chinese Estates was determined to win.

In fact, the real key point of this acquisition is that Lin Zhengjie personally persuaded Singapore's GIC to sell its shares in Frasers Group to Chinese Estates Holdings.

Singapore's GIC is a state-owned investment company. The reason Lin Zhengjie was able to convince it to sell, in addition to a higher asking price, was that he also reached some kind of agreement with the Singapore government - the Lin family wanted to regard Singapore as an important base.

This is what the Singapore government wants to see. After all, it is equivalent to pouring tens of billions of dollars into Singapore.

The media in Hong Kong and the Mainland were no fools and soon understood the whole story - Lam Ching Kit's 'close friend' had started preparations last year, first spending a huge sum of money to privatize Chinese Estates Holdings, and then spending a huge sum of money to acquire the Frasers Group.

Such a huge mobilization of funds obviously has a very important strategic significance!

Some media even called it an act of "capital relocation".

Of course, Lin Zhengjie refused to be interviewed about this matter, after all, it was "none" of his business.

As for Ma Yawen, she would naturally say that "Chinese Estates will always be in Hong Kong, and investing overseas is normal behavior."

All public opinions will fade away with time!

Another three months passed.

The acquisition of Frasers Group by Chinese Estates Holdings Group added two new competitors, namely TCC Asset Management, owned by Thai tycoon Su Xuming, and Hualian Enterprises, controlled by Indonesian tycoon Li Zong.

However, the quotations from the two companies lacked sincerity and gave people the feeling that they were just advertisements!

Therefore, in early January 2012, Chinese Estates Holdings suddenly increased its offer to acquire Frasers Group to US$1 billion (the value of 143% of the shares) and made an "irrevocable acquisition offer".

The implication is that if the price is not good enough, the acquisition will be cancelled!
This time, the board of directors of F&N Group agreed because other competitors were unable to compete.

The acquisition that lasted for more than half a year has finally come to an end!

As for Asia Pacific Breweries, China Estates Holdings and Frasers Group together hold 49.9% and have reached an agreement with Heineken to continue their cooperation.

The first reason why Heineken Group was attracted was the capital behind Chinese Estates Holdings. The second reason was that Chinese Estates Holdings had no background in the beer business and would not covet the secrets of Heineken beer.

The total cost of Chinese Estates Holdings' acquisition of Frasers Group and Asia Pacific Breweries Group is about US$150 billion, and everything is in line with Lin Zhengjie's plan.

As for accepting F&N Group, that is not a problem at all.

Not to mention that Ma Yawen is a long-established "queen" in the business world, her eldest son Lin Wenyi is already 31 years old and can stand on his own, and her second son Lin Wenkai is also 28 years old and can also stand on his own.

In the new layout, Ma Yawen serves as the chairman of the board of directors of the two companies, his eldest son Lin Wenyi serves as the president of F&N Group, and his second son Lin Wenkai serves as the president of Chinese Estates Holdings.

For a moment, the mother and her two children became busy!

Of course, Lin Zhengjie did not ignore them at all. It was no problem for him to appoint some of his connections to give them advice and suggestions!

The success of this acquisition was not only due to money, but also due to personal connections.

You have to know that Ma Yawen and Chinese Estates Holdings are just big names in Hong Kong, and they can't make it in Southeast Asia at all; their current competitors, such as TCC Asset Management, owned by Thai tycoon Su Xuming, and Hualian Enterprises, controlled by Indonesian tycoon Li Zong, are both wealthy Chinese in Southeast Asia.

In addition, Ma Yawen wanted to win without any reason, but he couldn't even pass the first level, the Singapore Government Investment Fund GIC! (End of this chapter)