The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 800 Give up the right to print Hong Kong dollars! ?

Deep Water Bay, in the yacht club typhoon shelter.

An ultra-large luxury yacht cut through the water and sailed away from the dock lightly and gracefully.

This is the largest and most luxurious private yacht in Hong Kong. Everyone knows that this super-large luxury yacht belongs to the richest man in Hong Kong, 'Fok Ying-Tong'!

Henry Fok spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this private luxury yacht.

In the luxurious banquet hall of the yacht, besides the owner, Henry Fok, there were other wealthy people who were famous in Hong Kong.

Li Ka-shing, Chairman of Cheung Kong Group and Hutchison Whampoa; Li Zhaoji, Chairman of Henderson Land Development and Sun Hung Kai Properties; Cheng Yutong, Chairman of Hong Kong New World Development Group and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group.
Those with more seniority sit in the front.

Behind them are the more prominent and wealthy families who inherited their fortunes, as well as the new wealthy people of this decade.

Of course, there are also some younger generations on the yacht, such as several children of Stanley Ho, children of Li Ka-shing, etc.

But they were not in the banquet hall, but somewhere else.

Their main task today was to serve tea and water. In order to maintain absolute confidentiality, there were no waiters on the yacht except the captain at the helm and several of Ho Ying-tung's bodyguards.

"Jiacheng, everyone is here now, you can tell everyone what happened." Ho Ying-tung said in a deep voice.

He is the undisputed leader of Hong Kong businessmen, with unmatched status, prestige and influence.

Moreover, the title he holds now also allows him to get along well in many places.

Since 1982, Henry Fok has been the leader of Hong Kong's business community, and no one can match him.

Even other business tycoons cannot compare with him.

Whether in terms of the wealth he possesses or his influence in various industries, Ho Ying-tung is in a class of his own.

Moreover, in promoting Hong Kong businessmen to invest in the mainland, Ho Ying-tung was the leader and guide. When Hong Kong businessmen encountered problems in the mainland, they often came to Ho Ying-tung and asked him for help to solve them.

After 1982, Hong Kong opened a new chapter. Foreign capital was completely defeated and Chinese businessmen gained absolute advantage. Until now, foreign capital can no longer cause any trouble in Hong Kong.

Now Hong Kong is not only the choice of local businessmen, but also of many Chinese businessmen. Chinese tycoons from Southeast Asia, South America, Europe and the United States often choose Hong Kong as a springboard to enter the mainland.

Among them, almost everyone would choose to pay a visit to Henry Fok.

Li Ka-shing didn't want to be the first to take action because he was not sure that others would not be angry. The solution he thought of was to bring people like Henry Fok into the game.

A large portion of the people here own shares in HSBC, it’s just a matter of how much.

If we want to test or communicate with Liu Tao, the most suitable person would be none other than Ho Ying-tung.

Li Jiacheng said: "Not long ago, Mr. Liu invited HSBC's boss Pu Weishi to dinner and directly issued an ultimatum to HSBC, asking it to acquire HSBC."

"Pu Weishi and others came to me after the meeting," Li Jiacheng recounted the whole story.

Suddenly everyone present was in an uproar.

None of them expected that Liu Tao would actually take action against HSBC.

You should know that over the years, Liu Tao never declared war on HSBC, and the two sides maintained a polite relationship on the surface.

HSBC is a giant compared to any other company present.

If there is anyone among them who can take down HSBC, it is only the Huo family that has the ability and scale to do so.

No one else can do it.

"Are they really willing to let us in?" Zheng Yutong couldn't help but ask.

HSBC owns a large number of high-quality assets.

Just take HSBC, it's a global bank.

In recent years, due to the changes in Hong Kong's banking industry, other small and medium-sized banks have been unable to keep up with the times and have declared bankruptcy, and the banks can no longer operate.

It's not that no one among them has invested in banks, but they all ended up in failure. Because their reputation and size can't compete with those big banks, they can't gain the trust of Hong Kong people, and if they don't have enough deposits to run a bank, they will not only not make money, but lose money in the end.

"The British are forced into a desperate situation. If they let us in, they can still stay in Hong Kong. If they don't let us in, they will have no choice but to withdraw from Hong Kong." Li Ka-shing sees it very clearly. This is the current situation and HSBC has only two choices.

If it is sold to Liu Tao, it will definitely not get a good price, because Liu Tao is in an absolutely strong position. If HSBC does not buy it, competition will break out in the banking industry and HSBC will definitely suffer a great loss and eventually end in disgrace.

If we sell a portion of our shares to them and they enter the market, then they will actually get to keep a portion of their shares and can still make a living in Hong Kong.

As for the 100% premium, no one feels like they’ve lost out.

"Jiacheng, do you think we should enter?" Ho Ying-tung looked at Li Jiacheng.

The Huo family actually owns shares in Standard Chartered Bank, but it is very small.

Li Jiacheng said: "Mr. Huo, this opportunity is rare. It can be said to be our only chance. Once we miss it, there will be no more chances."

"Of course, Mr. Liu's approval is also needed in this regard," said Li Jiacheng.

A large part of their financing came through Liu Tao's several companies, including investments in the mainland.

No one wants to offend Liu Tao.

Others also spoke up. They knew better than anyone how rare this opportunity was.

"Well, I will call Mr. Liu. If he doesn't want to, then forget it!" said Ho Ying-tung in a deep voice.

Ho Ying-tung never thought of breaking up with Liu Tao.

The cooperation between them is closer than anyone imagined.

They are allies that have stood the test of more than ten years.

Others nodded.

Ho Ying-Tong went out for a while, took a satellite phone and called Liu Tao.

Fifteen minutes later, Ho Ying-tung hung up the satellite phone.

When Henry Fok walked into the banquet hall, everyone turned their eyes to him.

"Mr. Liu doesn't care whether we enter the market or not, but he has two conditions." Huo Yingdong said: "The first condition is that HSBC gives up the right to print money, and only Standard Chartered Bank will have the right to print Hong Kong dollars in the future. The second condition is that Chinese businessmen own no less than 35% of the shares of HSBC Group!"

35%, which means that the Chinese businessmen have almost the same shares as the British.

"Now, let's each subscribe to a certain amount. Later, Jiacheng, you go and talk to HSBC. If we can't reach an agreement, then forget it." Ho Ying-tung said and looked at Li Ka-shing.

Now the subscription amount refers to how much money everyone can put out.

Even a 1% stake in HSBC would cost a huge amount of money.

Even among those sitting here, not everyone can eat 1%.

As for the negotiation, it will naturally be left to Li Jiacheng.

As someone involved in this matter, Li Jiacheng will naturally not suffer any loss.

Li Jiacheng showed a smile on his face, which meant that there was basically no problem with the matter.

As for the first condition, giving up the right to print Hong Kong dollars, this is naturally not a big deal.

He even guessed in his heart that Liu Tao wanted to acquire HSBC because he did not want the British to have the right to print Hong Kong dollars.

Then, the banquet hall became lively.

The subscription quota that Stanley Ho mentioned does not mean that you can get as much quota as you pay, but it all needs to be balanced.

(End of this chapter)