Chapter 487: British Capital's Test
Chapter 487: British Capital's Test
After listening to this, Trench agreed and said, "I also agree to solve this problem in a low-key manner, but the question is how to solve it? If we ask him to give up, what if he disagrees?"
Not to mention the current timeline, even if Yang Wendong had done the same thing two years ago, it would have been difficult for the Hong Kong government to deal with it; if they ignored it, they would have offended British capital, and if they intervened, they would have offended the largest Chinese financial group in Hong Kong.
Yang Wendong is not Huo Yingdong. It is not easy to suppress him. He has not expressed his views on left and right issues and belongs to the centrists. If you suppress the centrists, wouldn’t it be a mess?
Moreover, Yang Wendong controls a large number of jobs in Hong Kong. Thousands of young people from Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Island, Kwun Tong, Shatin, Kwai Chung and other places work for him to make a living. Behind him, there may be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people who rely on the Changxing Group for a normal life, and the company's welfare is not bad. If some of these people become unemployed, it will be a huge pressure for the Hong Kong government.
Even though Yang Wendong has very good relations with the UK, Europe and many Asian countries, if the incident really gets out of hand, there will be tremendous pressure from international public opinion.
Sanders saw everyone looking at him, then he looked at Edward and said, "The board of directors of the Golden Gate Group has agreed to the merger. It's a done deal, and there's nothing we can do.
Now it's up to the Huangpu Group, Edward, the opinions of your board of directors and management are very important. If you agree, we outsiders can't interfere. Only if you disagree can we intervene."
The others nodded in agreement. If the victim didn’t agree, what else could they do?
Edward hesitated and said, "Mr. Sanders, I don't want Yang Wendong to become a director of Huangpu Group, but he already has 16% of the shares. The company law clearly states that they have 1/5 of the board seats. We have no reason to stop it."
Whether British or Chinese, everyone must abide by the law. This is the most basic principle. Even the Governor of Hong Kong is required to do so. Otherwise, if the law is not upheld fairly, the social system and trust system will collapse immediately.
After hearing this, Trench frowned. There was really nothing to say. On the surface, the Hong Kong government still had to maintain the British and Chinese capital.
Sanders thought for a moment and said, "In that case, I will send someone to discuss with Yang Wendong and test his intentions. If he just wants to become a director and get a seat, now that the matter is settled, there is nothing we can do.
If he disagrees and wants to go further, and the Hong Kong government is not convenient to intervene directly, how about we help Huangpu defeat Yang Wendong?"
After hearing this, the British tycoons present started to discuss with each other, but after a long while no one expressed their opinion. No one was willing to spend money to help others for no reason.
Sanders seemed to have known this would happen, so he said, "Everyone, this is also to protect the interests of our British capital. The Chinese have a saying that a thousand-mile dam can be breached by an ant hole. Once a British capital is forcibly acquired by Chinese capital, then with the development speed of Chinese capital in the past ten years, who can guarantee that they will not be the next one?"
"How can we help?" asked a foreigner.
Sanders said: "If Yang Wendong still wants to further increase the investment in Huangpu, then while Edward still has the management rights and the support of most seats on the board of directors, he can directly let Huangpu Group increase the capital and expand the shares for you to dilute his shares;
As for the expenses, I will give you some loans at low interest rates.”
"Low interest rates are not a problem. The problem is the share price of Whampoa Group. What will happen in the future?" Another person said, "The world is beginning to move towards containerization. The only container terminal in Hong Kong is still in the hands of the Changxing Group. No matter how you look at it, the future of Whampoa Group's stock will not be good."
Others were also talking about it. They were certainly not happy to be asked to invest in a project that was bound to lose money.
Edward's face was filled with hatred when he heard everyone's discussion, but he could not object. Containerization of docks is indeed the trend of the future, but the Whampoa Group has declined and its scale is far less than that of Jardine Matheson and Swire. It is very difficult to invest in a dock.
Of course, at this point in time this year, even these two companies would not dare to invest, for fear that the huge amount of money would be wasted, otherwise it would not be Yang Wendong’s turn to own the container terminal.
Trembling knew that he couldn't make things clear in a short time, so he said, "Okay, everyone, let's stop here today. Let's go test Yang Wendong's attitude first. If he agrees, that's better. If he doesn't agree, we can discuss what to do next."
Everyone thought it was okay. It wasn't yet time for them to pay, so there was really no need to argue.
Just like that, the Governor of Hong Kong ordered the meeting to end, and all the representatives of British companies left, leaving only Sanders.
Trench said, "Sanders, don't go and discuss this matter yourself. If things get awkward, just send someone down, but the person's position must be appropriate."
"I know." Sanders said, "I have already decided who to send. Shen Bi, the head of our bank's credit business, often contacts Changxing Group and has met Yang Wendong, so we have dealt with each other before."
"Okay." Trench nodded. He didn't know who Shen Bi was, so Sanders could just make the arrangements himself.
Outside the Governor's House, William Keswick glanced at his brother and said, "How is Yifeng Supermarket doing recently?"
John Keswick paused, but still replied: "Not very good. The economy is bad, and Carrefour is also losing money in price wars and publicity wars. It is very passive."
“John, this is not a solution.” William shook his head and said, “Yang Wendong is now targeting British assets. I suspect there is someone behind him;
Now he has started to invest in tunnels, ports and real estate on a large scale, which is very aggressive. If this continues, Hong Kong Land can no longer support Yifeng. Our Jardine Matheson Group is already suffering from heavy losses. I am going to sell a building to ease the financial pressure. "Hong Kong Land's largest asset is a large number of buildings in Central, but it is not held without debt. In previous years, a large amount of debt was repaid by rent. However, this year, many tenants have run away, and those who stay pay only 20% to 30% of the funds in previous years, which has caused huge financial pressure.
"Sell the building? That's not necessary?" John asked in surprise.
William thought for a moment and said, "It's not just a matter of money. Being able to cash out and leave Hong Kong is also a guarantee of safety."
"That's fine." John stopped objecting and asked, "So you mean to give up Yifeng Supermarket? But if we give up, the tens of millions of dollars invested in the past few years will be wasted. And once Carrefour controls all supermarkets in Hong Kong, we will never have another chance."
"I know it's a big loss, but we did make a mistake when we first entered the supermarket industry. I didn't expect Changxing Group to develop so fast, and I didn't foresee the economic crisis today." William sighed and said, "But Jardine Matheson has a lot of assets. If it's not Yifeng, it will be other assets. Which one do you think we should choose?"
When Carrefour was first established, Jardine Matheson Group keenly discovered this business opportunity and got involved.
However, the Changxing Group at that time was only of average level among Chinese companies and was not as good as Hang Seng Bank, Liao Chong Hing Bank, the Ho family or the Guo family. But who could have imagined that Yang Wendong's development speed was so fast that he completed the wealth accumulation process of many families over decades and generations in just a few years.
John was silent for a moment. He also knew that many assets under the Jardine Matheson Group were of very high quality. Comparatively speaking, his own assets were indeed not as good. From the beginning to now, he had been facing suppression from Carrefour and rarely made a profit. This was even when Swire Properties reduced or exempted rent.
So he asked, "What do you want me to do?"
William said: "Sell Yifeng to Carrefour at a good price, which will reduce the loss. Otherwise, it would be a huge loss if we just close the store."
"What if Yang Wendong doesn't want it?" John asked.
William said: "Then find a way to sell it to Japanese or American capital. Some of them still dare to invest."
John nodded and said, "Okay, I'll try it."
10 month 26 day.
Yang Wendong met with an "acquaintance", Shen Bi of HSBC Group, at the headquarters of Changxing Building.
Yang Wendong never thought of trying to please this future HSBC boss, because there was a high probability that by the time he came to power, his businesses would have already gone overseas. But there was no need to offend him, as long as they had a decent relationship with him.
"Hello, Mr. Yang." Shen Bi shook hands politely.
"Shen Bi, long time no see." Yang Wendong also shook hands and gestured, "Please sit down."
Assistant Xiaoying quickly served the coffee. Shen Bi took a sip and praised, "Good coffee."
"Shen Bi, if you like it, I'll give you some." Yang Wendong smiled, and then asked directly: "I wonder why you came here today?"
Shen Bi put down his coffee cup and said, "Mr. Yang, I came here today to thank Changxing Real Estate and Changxing Infrastructure for their cooperation with HSBC. I hope we can continue to maintain this cooperative relationship in the future."
Over the past year, the economic crisis has led to a decrease in consumption and investment across Hong Kong. Under such circumstances, even the "quasi-central bank" HSBC can no longer bear the pressure. Too many people are saving money and too few people are taking out loans. No bank can handle this.
Yang Wendong's heavy investment and acquisitions helped HSBC solve this problem. Although the interest rates on infrastructure projects were not high and HSBC did not make much money, it was much better than leaving the deposits in the bank and earning interest. The losses were all HSBC's money.
"I also hope to maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with HSBC, which will benefit both of us," Yang Wendong replied.
When doing real estate business in Hong Kong, the best partner is naturally HSBC. Even if Yang Wendong has a good relationship with foreign banks, he would not borrow foreign exchange to do real estate business. That would be too stupid.
Shen Bi continued, "Mr. Yang, the second thing is, I want to ask you on your behalf, what is your purpose of investing in Huangpu Group?"
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)