Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 86 [Leveraged Loan]

The beginning of April

Guo Cuiting's health is gradually improving, and she is able to get out of bed and walk a few steps. The doctor also said, "Guo Cuiting's legs can recover, but it will take a long time, about a year."

Li Wendi didn't know whether Wei Zuhui had bribed the doctor or it was the real situation, so he hinted to the doctor, "If what you said is not true, the consequences will be very serious, and it may even involve your family." However, the doctor firmly guaranteed it with his career, which dispelled Li Wendi's concerns.

After she got better, Guo Cuiting insisted on being discharged from the hospital and going home to recuperate. Li Wendi then said that the medical expenses would be borne by the person who caused the accident and they did not need to pay a penny, so she could stay here with peace of mind.

For the sake of his son Wei Jiyuan, Wei Zuhui would certainly not be stingy with the small amount of money. After all, he had already lost a floor of an office building in Wan Chai.

Li Wendi and Wei Zuhui are both trying hard to find out the reasons behind this incident, but there is not much information at the moment, which makes them feel that there must be a black hand behind the scenes stirring up everything.

Li Wendi naturally had some guesses about the candidates, but those people were not easy to deal with. It was difficult to deal with one of them, let alone threaten and counterattack against everyone.

So Li Wendi had to put the matter aside for the time being. He had other things to deal with and couldn't put all his energy on this matter.

The share price of Swire Group has not risen for three days and has stopped at 7.6 yuan. Investors are beginning to get a little agitated. No one can guarantee whether the share price of Swire Group will fall.
Although Li Wendi is not afraid of the decline, he feels uncomfortable being stuck at that price. He needs to make money with his funds, and if he waits for one more day, his plan may be disrupted.

So, on May 5, Li Wendi came to HSBC, ready to sell the shares of Swire Group.

"Mr. Wu, please help me sell the shares of Swire Group." Li Wendi took a sip of coffee and gave an order to Wu Xiong.

"Okay! After the sale, which company's stock does Mr. Li plan to buy?" Wu Xiong asked.

Li Wendi thought for a moment and said, "This stock sale should be able to recover more than 300 million yuan. I plan to take out 100 million yuan and buy Dairy Farm International's shares with a 5x leverage. I wonder if the trading hall can provide leverage?"

He thought that if the leveraged funds were too much, the purchase of Dairy Farm International's shares might exceed that range, which would make the people at the Jardine Matheson Holdings Group hesitate. Moreover, if the leverage was too large, the interest would also be high.

"Of course you can, but Dairy Farm's stock is a Blue Lantern and there won't be any fluctuations in the short term. Mr. Li, you have many choices. Why do you have to buy Dairy Farm's stock?" Wu Xiong asked.

"Mr. Wu, you don't need to understand the reason, just help me buy it." Li Wendi felt that Wu Xiong was a little ungrateful. Since when could a trader interfere with a client's decision? He should consider their past relationship, otherwise he really wanted to change a trader.

"Okay, I'll do it right away." Wu Xiong looked at Li Wendi's serious expression and didn't dare to say anything to interfere.

45.77 shares of Swire Group were sold in batches on the stock market. Due to the small volume (equivalent to the total amount), it did not cause any market reaction and the stock price remained unchanged.

In the afternoon, Wu Xiong took Li Wendi to the foreign vice president to handle the leverage procedures.

"Vice President Weiss, this is Mr. Li Wendi. He wants us to provide a leverage of 500 million to buy shares of Dairy Farm International." Wu Xiong introduced.

The foreigner Weiss looked up at Li Wendi and found that he was a Chinese. A look of contempt appeared on his face, but he just nodded and asked the two to sit on the sofa next to them for a while.

20 minutes passed and Weiss still showed no intention of negotiating with Li Wendi.

Li Wendi could no longer bear it and said, "Since Mr. Vice President is so busy, I will take my leave first. I would also like to trouble Mr. Wu to transfer my funds to my personal account."

His meaning was very clear. If HSBC couldn't provide it, there were other banks that could. Why put on airs? "Mr. Li, why don't you wait a little longer? I'll go talk to the vice president." Wu Xiong was anxious. He didn't want to lose Li Wendi, a big customer.

"No need!" Li Wendi waved his hand, stood up and was about to leave the office.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Li! There are really too many bank matters. Please sit down and let's discuss it." Weiss finally came over.

Li Wendi is a man with a bad temper. Although HSBC is the quasi-central bank of Hong Kong, it is not the only choice.

"There's no need to sit down. Whether Mr. Weiss can handle the leverage issue for me is just a matter of words. It's okay or not. My time is also valuable."

"Mr. Li, 500 million leverage is a big number," Weiss said seriously, trying to deceive him, but Li Wendi interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "Mr. Weiss, do you mean it can't be processed?"

"It can be done, but it requires collateral of equal value." Weiss was a little angry. The Chinese man in front of him didn't give him any face at all.

"Isn't it okay to use the purchased stocks as collateral?" Li Wendi continued to question.

"Mr. Li, according to the leverage regulations, the maximum amount of collateral that can be used for a loan is 7%, which means the leverage will be 7% of the collateral."

"In that case, I'd better look for other securities companies. I believe they are willing to take on this business." Li Wendi had of course learned about the relevant leverage regulations. What Weiss said was true, but it was only on paper.

This Weiss is making things difficult for Li Wendi in disguise, trying to save some face.

Wu Xiong's face was filled with anxiety, and he really wanted to persuade Weiss, but he knew the style of foreigners - they were arrogant and looked down on the Chinese, so he was afraid that it would backfire.

Weiss was well aware of Li Wendi's investment in the bank's trading hall and just wanted to suppress Li Wendi's arrogance, but he was also unwilling to lose this big client. After all, people like Li Wendi could easily find securities companies that provided leverage.

"Mr. Li, don't worry. The regulations are for ordinary customers. For high-quality customers like Mr. Li, our bank will be flexible. If Mr. Li can use the stocks he bought and the stocks of the land company as collateral, I can handle the leverage procedures for you immediately." Weiss was still reluctant to let Li Wendi go.

"Okay, but I also have a condition, which is that the leverage interest rate becomes 8%." Li Wendi hit back.

Weiss wanted to refute, but Li Wendi continued, "If it doesn't work, then let's do it this way. We can work together next time."

Seeing that Li Wendi was really going to leave, Weiss took a step back and said, "Okay, we can do as Mr. Li says. How long will it take to repay this leveraged loan?"

"Before next year." Li Wendi responded.

The subsequent procedures were handled very quickly because Wu Xiong was in charge of most of the things and Weiss was just the person in charge.

Calculated based on an interest rate of 8%, Li Wendi saved a lot of money, nearly 10 yuan in interest.

As for the pledge of shares of the Hong Kong Land Development, it is just a formality. As long as Li Wendi acts in accordance with the contract, the shares will naturally belong to Li Wendi. HSBC has no right to take any action.

Although Weiss was trying to make things difficult for him and Li Wendi was angry, the matter was not simple. Without the familiar HSBC, securities companies on the market might not be able to leverage such a large amount of funds for him, or they might have to pay some price, and the operation would also be more troublesome, so Li Wendi endured it.

(End of this chapter)