Chapter 497: The Early Birth of Hutchison Whampoa

Chapter 497: The Early Birth of Hutchison Whampoa

Chapter 497: The Early Birth of Hutchison Whampoa

"What? Hutchison? Qi Dezun?" Edward was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized, "Damn it, Yang Wendong is behind this. He is using other British capital to attack us."

The two subordinates stood by without saying anything. They naturally understood the situation. After all, Hutchison had long been acquired by the Changxing Group, and this was known to everyone.

But such an obvious plan was difficult to deal with, because even with the investment from Yang Wendong, Hutchison was still a British-owned company, and more than 50% of its shares were still in the hands of British capital.

Edward thought for a while, then immediately picked up the phone and dialed a number. Soon the call was connected: "Mr. Shen Bi, you know what happened in the stock market."

Shen Bi's voice came from the other end of the line: "I already know about this. I am discussing this matter with Mr. Sanders. Please wait for me for a moment."

"Okay, thank you Mr. Shen Bi." Edward also politely hung up the phone.

HSBC:

After Shen Bi hung up the phone, he frowned, then stood up and went to Sanders' office.

"Mr. Sanders." Shen Bi came in and said directly: "Qi Dezun's Hutchison Group has launched a takeover of the Whampoa Group."

"Qi Dezun." Sanders was naturally very smart and understood immediately: "It seems that Yang Wendong still hasn't let go. He is really fascinated by the Huangpu Group."

"It is probably because he has a container terminal, so he urgently needs the management and technical personnel of Huangpu Terminal to help him." Shen Bi analyzed: "The last acquisition was blocked by us, and now it is operated through Hutchison. It seems that he will not stop until he succeeds."

Sanders nodded and said, "The problem is that this time the company that acquired Hutchison is a pure British company. We can't interfere in the same way."

"Wouldn't that mean Yang Wendong will succeed?" Shen Bi said.

Sanders smiled and said, "It's a success. Do you think we can stop the rise of Hong Kong Chinese capital? Don't forget that the north has everything."

"." Shen Bi also fell silent. This "what" was certainly not about economy, but "three eggs".

In addition to the mainland's record of 1 against 17, even the United States dares not say anything now. As for Britain, everyone knows that it has declined now, but the afterglow of the empire is still there.

Sanders added: "In fact, last year, the Hong Kong government granted the container terminal to Yang Wendong. Although there were special reasons at the time, it is meaningless to protect Huangpu now that things have come to this;

I will ask Governor Trench's opinion again, but I guess the answer will be the same. Yang Wendong has already given us face. He did not initiate the second acquisition himself, but went through other British capital. If we intervene again by force, we will really become enemies.

Yang Wendong has a great influence in Hong Kong now, and also has a certain influence in Asia and even Europe and the United States. We are not afraid of falling out with him in Hong Kong, but there is no need to do so. "

"Yeah, so should I go back to Edward like this?" Shen Bi asked again.

What happened last year also made the British Hong Kong government and British capital realize that they were able to gain a foothold in Hong Kong because others allowed them to do so, not because they themselves were able to do so.

It can be predicted that in the coming period, the Hong Kong government's policies will increasingly take care of Chinese capital and Chinese people, and the phrase "equality between Chinese and British" may not just be talk.

Sanders thought for a moment and said, “Well, let’s tell him that if he can find someone to help him, then we can help him keep the company. If not, then there’s nothing we can do.

If we lend him too much money and he loses, we will lose money.”

Even last year, if Yang Wendong had been tough, the Hong Kong government might not have intervened under such circumstances. Fortunately, Yang Wendong was more considerate and did not break off relations.
Now that he has given the go-ahead for British capital to acquire it, it can only become a normal business, with everything focused on profit.

"Okay." Shen Bi agreed.

"In addition," Sanders added, "when we do business in the future, we should not distinguish between British and Chinese capital. As long as it is beneficial to us, it's fine. Even if Yang Wendong and Jardine Matheson come into conflict one day, we will choose the side that is beneficial to us."

Shen Bi nodded and said, "I understand."

Hung Hom, Whampoa Group Headquarters:

"Mr. Shen Bi, is this really the only way?" Edward, who had just excitedly answered the phone, changed his expression after listening for a while.

The people around didn't dare to say anything, as everyone knew it wouldn't be good news.

After a while, Edward hung up the phone in frustration and remained silent until one of his men asked tentatively, "Mr. Edward?"

Edward reacted and said, "HSBC won't help us, so we have to save ourselves. I don't believe that among so many large British companies, none of them will help us."

After saying that, he immediately took out his little notebook, which had many people's phone numbers written in it, and called them one by one. It was not until an hour later that he hung up the phone in despair.

The others also understood that no one was willing to help the Whampoa Group. The reason was probably very simple. Everyone knew that Yang Wendong was behind Hutchison, and the Whampoa Group itself was not a high-quality business. Its terminal business could not compete with the other two, and its ship repair business was also average. In addition, the threat of container terminals always existed.

Under such circumstances, which British financial group would be willing to suffer losses to help fight against the No. 1 Chinese financial group in Hong Kong? They must be out of their minds.

One of his subordinates said, "Mr. Edward, Hutchison has offered a price 20% higher than the previous share price to buy out the shares of shareholders and stockholders. Many stockholders have already lined up to sell their shares at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Right now, we still need to consider, if Hutchison really acquires enough shares, what should we do? "

No one doubts whether Hutchison, with the Changxing Group behind it, has enough funds to acquire Whampoa!

It is rumored that the financial strength of Changxing Group is no less than that of HSBC. With so many factories, so many properties, and so many ships, anyone can see the strength of Changxing Group. This is a mythical story of starting from scratch in ten years.

Edward calmed down at this moment and asked, "Do you know how many shares Hutchison still needs?"

The subordinate replied, "I don't know. Hutchison hasn't announced it yet. It's still in the process of acquiring shares. With the shares held by Yang Wendong, it will probably be enough soon."

"Okay, make an appointment with Qi Dezun immediately. I need to talk to him." Edward finally gave up.

Without the help of other financial groups, shareholders on our side would sell their shares one after another, and it would be impossible to win in this situation;

Since you can't win, you have to find a way to protect your position and interests.

Changxing Group Headquarters:

After Qi Dezun received the notice from his men, he immediately smiled and said to Yang Wendong: "Mr. Yang, Edward has made an appointment with me. It seems that the Hong Kong government and HSBC have not shown up either. Your plan has succeeded."

"That's good, it saves everyone's face." Yang Wendong smiled and asked, "How many stocks do you have now?"

Although the status of Chinese capital is gradually rising, it is just the beginning and we cannot be too hasty. Moreover, when doing real business, we must abide by the rules on the surface, even if there is bloodshed in secret. Even if the trend of Hong Kong is determined in a dozen years, we should not cross the line at will.

Qi Dezun said: "I have acquired 9% in the past few days. Now I have a total of 28.7%. Add your 16%, and I am less than 5 points away from completely controlling Huangpu."

"Then you have to control it and don't reach the amount that triggers compulsory acquisition, otherwise we will have to privatize it completely," Yang Wendong reminded.

Qi Dezun said: "In fact, complete privatization is also a good option. The price of Huangpu Group is not high now."

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "After privatization, who will it belong to? You or me?"

"How about half each?" Qi Dezun said with a smile.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, then you can trigger the mandatory acquisition invitation, and we will just pay a little more money and take over the entire Huangpu."

Judging from its business alone, the Whampoa Group will inevitably become increasingly decadent in the future. This is why many British companies are currently unwilling to participate. If it really was a piece of fat meat, with Hong Kong's future already determined, the Hong Kong government would not even need to intervene, and Jardine Swire might just get involved and take a bite.

Only Yang Wendong, a time traveler, knew that in the next few years, housing prices in Hong Kong would increase five or six times, and the stock market would increase more than ten times. In this case, although the Whampoa Group's own business was not very good, as a century-old enterprise, it owned a large amount of high-quality land and properties, plus 200 million square feet of seafront land in Hung Hom after the decline of the port. Even if it was industrial land, it became the only large piece of land in Hong Kong close to residential areas and the harbor, and was of great value.

In the future, if I want to develop the Huangpu land myself, I will definitely have to invest solely in it. In that case, I might as well privatize Huangpu now while the stock price is low.

"OK." Qi Dezun asked again: "Edward wants to see me, do you want to go with him?"

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, “No need, since it’s you who is the one buying it, I won’t get involved;

Edward's request is nothing more than to guarantee his own and others' jobs. Just agree to it. We don't have relevant talents at present, so we can only rely on them."

"Okay, I think so too. I don't know how to run a dock." Qi Dezun also agreed and said, "Then I'll leave first. I'll contact you when there is progress later."

"Okay." Yang Wendong replied.

On the 20th, Qi Dezun of Hutchison Group and Edward of Whampoa Group officially held a press conference to announce that Whampoa Group will be officially merged into Hutchison International Group. The latter will also be fully privatized according to the previous highest stock price and renamed Hutchison Whampoa Group.

Edward and other original management team will continue to operate Whampoa Port and ship repair business, while other land properties of Whampoa Group will be handed over to Hutchison Property.

After the news was announced, Hutchison Group’s stock price skyrocketed, and its market value directly exceeded HK$5 million, making it the most dazzling new British company in Hong Kong.

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(End of this chapter)