Chapter 689: 9 Dragon Warehouse Acquisition Battle
Chapter 689: The Wharf Acquisition War (4)
After hearing this, Fang Xianming was also very happy and asked, "Mr. Yang, how many locations do we plan to acquire?"
"We will buy as much as we can. I don't think Jardine Matheson knows we have 10 points hidden, so they will probably follow us." Yang Wendong said, "Plus, there are other speculative capitals trying to make a fortune, so what we will do next depends on the stock price trend."
It is impossible for the Jardine Matheson Group not to resist such a large-scale hostile takeover, and it is impossible for other investors not to take the opportunity to make a fortune. This is the nature of capital, and Yang Wendong has been prepared for it;
This is how acquisitions of listed companies work. It is bound to be a hassle. If one does not know the future and makes the acquisition in advance when Wharf Holdings dilutes its shares, the difficulty of today's acquisition will inevitably increase exponentially, and it may even develop into a situation similar to Pao Yu-kong where Fu Chuang ultimately wins.
Fang Xianming said: "Okay, I'll arrange it right away."
The next morning, a table suddenly appeared near the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Behind the table was the Changxing Group's company flag, which immediately attracted the attention of many stockholders.
However, a large number of security guards surrounded the place, and no one could get close. If anyone wanted to ask something, the security guards would naturally be clueless.
But with such a large lineup, there must be something big going on, and many people were thinking in the direction of their own guesses;
At 9 o'clock, an employee of Changxing Financial Group, holding a loudspeaker, said to the people around him: "Everyone, I am the representative of Changxing Group. From now on, Changxing Group will buy the Wharf shares you hold at a price of HK$21 per share.
This time we will be exchanging bank drafts. Anyone who brings in their stocks will receive a draft from Hang Seng Bank, which can be exchanged for cash immediately and then deposited into their account."
Restricted by banking laws, Hang Seng Bank cannot lend money to its major shareholders, but capital circulation is not a problem, so Changxing Group and Hang Seng Bank also have direct cooperation in many aspects;
There is more indirect cooperation. For example, tens of thousands of employees of Changxing Group have accounts in Hang Seng Bank, and so do many suppliers.
"Wow~" Everyone nearby cheered enthusiastically;
HK$21 is 17% higher than the current share price of HK$12. This acquisition increase ratio is not very high, but the fact that Changxing Group moved the table here today is very good news, indicating that the two large financial groups will officially start to show their knives;
At this moment, when people on the outside heard the news, many of them immediately regretted it, because they had sold their stocks before because they believed some rumors. Now facing cash acquisition, there are no stocks left to sell.
"Wharf Holdings' share price has gone up, everyone hurry up and buy some first."
A middle-aged man suddenly yelled, which immediately made many people react and rush forward, intending to buy more Wharf shares;
But now, almost everyone is buying stocks, and it is simply too late.
Jardine Matheson Group Headquarters:
"Mr. Keswick, Changxing Group directly rented a table at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and purchased Wharf Holdings' shares directly with cash promissory notes." Newby reported directly after arriving at the office.
"Cash?" Henry Keswick frowned and asked, "What's the price?"
Niubijian replied: "Evergreen Group offered 21, but because of this, Wharf Holdings' stock price has risen to 22. I estimate that Evergreen Group will increase the acquisition price later."
There are so many external investors. Although each of them is not large in scale, the total impact is huge. These people have long been hoping to make some money from this acquisition.
As soon as Changxing Group made a move, they immediately bought stocks on a large scale to push up the stock price. In any case, Changxing Group would definitely cover the losses later.
"It's a pity that the stock-for-stock model doesn't work, otherwise it would be perfect if it happened again." Henry Keswick sighed.
Niubijian shook his head and said, "For now, we can only use cash."
In fact, the "stock-for-stock" strategy of Hutchison Whampoa Dairy was his idea, and the effect was very good. Hutchison Whampoa acquired Dairy Farm International at almost zero cost.
But this operation really cheated other investors, so it could only be used once. But from the perspective of that time, it was indeed a profit.
Henry Keswick said, "The funds I have raised are not very much. If we really get into trouble, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for long. What do you think we should do?"
Niu Bijian thought for a moment and said, "Whether we have enough funds or not, we have to go because we are in control of the company. We don't have to buy back the shares. As long as we can increase Yang Wendong's acquisition cost and make him feel that he is losing money and stop acquiring, that will be enough."
"You mean, like last time, we buy stocks at high prices?" Henry Keswick understood immediately. Newby said, "Yes, we must quickly buy the stock price up, preferably to more than 35, so that Yang Wendong's acquisition cost will become extremely high;
He does have money, but he probably won't do a business that loses money."
"Well, what you said makes sense. We don't need to defeat him, we just need to make him retreat." Henry Keswick nodded, and then said: "Then we will rent a place in the afternoon and increase the purchase price;
But we only raise the price, and the actual acquisition needs to be controlled slowly, otherwise we won’t have enough funds.”
"I see." Henry Keswick said with a smile.
As expected by everyone, when Wharf Holdings' stock price exceeded the purchase price of the Changxing Group, the Changxing Group immediately raised its purchase price, and the stock price also rose, reaching HK$25 per share.
That afternoon, people from Jardine Matheson Group also came to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and raised the purchase price to HK$28, so many shareholders ran over to ask: "Are you paying in cash?"
"Hmm," the Jardine Matheson staff was speechless for a moment, then replied, "Yes, cash payment, cashier's draft from HSBC."
"Okay, I'll sell it to you." Seeing that the price was reasonable, a stockholder also thought about taking the money first.
After other shareholders heard that it was a bank draft, many of them expressed their willingness to sell their stocks. Apparently, they were also scared by the stock-for-stock swap of Hutchison Milk Company before. On that occasion, too many original shareholders of the milk company were cheated and only got back about 30% of their investment.
The Yihe staff smiled and said, "Okay, everyone line up. I will check each of you one by one."
The stockholders did not think much about it and lined up to wait, but after waiting for a long time, they found that the progress in front was too slow, so one person shouted: "Isn't this too slow?"
The Jardine staff said: "We are also on guard against fake stocks. Don't you know this from previous experience?"
"." The stockholders were speechless. The Hong Kong stock market crash was caused by the fraud of stocks or stock exchange certificates. It is normal for Jardine Matheson to be more cautious now.
In a VIP room above the exchange, Yang Wendong looked at the teams on both sides below and said with a smile, "I have received a reply from HSBC. They said that no matter which party, as long as there is normal collateral, they can get funds from them."
Fang Xianming immediately understood what he meant and said with a smile, "That means HSBC will not provide any additional assistance to Jardine Matheson."
In fact, any party can get a loan from any bank as long as they can provide suitable collateral. If HSBC disagrees, they can also find other foreign banks.
In a takeover battle, the biggest concern is that a bank or a large consortium will help one party regardless of the risks, which will cause trouble for the other party.
"Jardine Matheson Group has transferred a large amount of funds overseas over the years. I guess it's not easy for them to transfer it back in a short time." Yang Wendong continued: "And as far as I know, Jardine Matheson Group's overseas investments are not very good. They have suffered losses in many places, and have wasted so much profit earned in Hong Kong."
"Make money in Hong Kong and invest overseas" is the current strategy of the Jardine Matheson Group. Their ancestors have accumulated so much wealth in Hong Kong over the past hundred years that they can make a lot of money without doing anything. However, due to concerns about certain risks, they have transferred all the profits to overseas investments.
However, despite the huge wealth, the management is mediocre. Over the years, the Jardine Matheson Group has invested all over the world, such as rubber farms in Asia, oil extraction in Canada, mining in South Africa, etc. Although the scale seems large, there is no coordination between them, and each of them has poor performance, or even losses.
This is why in history, in 78, Li Ka-shing, who was worth only a few hundred million, dared to take action against Wharf Holdings, while Jardine Matheson Group did not dare to fight back and instead asked HSBC for help in putting pressure on it, because this so-called "No. British trading company in Hong Kong" was already strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Among the four major trading companies in Hong Kong, only Swire Properties had a relatively stable foundation, but the upcoming oil crisis would also deal a heavy blow to its core business, the aviation industry.
It is now 1973. Jardine Matheson may be doing a little better than in 1978, but now they are facing the Cheung Kong Group, which is dozens of times stronger than the Cheung Kong Industries in the past.
"The team under Jardine is progressing very slowly. They are obviously stalling for time and raising our procurement costs with high prices, but they don't need to spend much money themselves." Fang Xianming asked: "Mr. Yang, should we continue to raise the price next?"
"It's interesting that they have come up with such a dirty trick." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I guess if we raise the price again, they will follow suit, so let's just hold off for now.
Since they like to play this way, we will arrange some people to line up. Each person should not have too many stocks, but should take up all the positions in the line. I want to see how long they can play. "
Fang Xianming smiled and said, "Okay, I'll arrange it right away."
Yang Wendong added: "Also, continue to acquire shares on the stock market, or contact other shareholders, combine multiple aspects, and don't give up on any one line."
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(End of this chapter)