Chapter 691: 9 Dragon Warehouse Acquisition Battle
Chapter 691: The Wharf Acquisition War (6)
Compared to Bao Yugang in the original history, the funds he spends today are much less;
In 1980, Pao Yu-kong spent HK$20 billion to acquire 20% of Wharf Holdings. This price shocked everyone. Although he was successful in the end, he also suffered heavy losses. He paid HK$2.86 million in interest on short-term borrowing.
In the mid-80s, Wharf Holdings' stock price fell below 20. According to paper data, the Bao family lost nearly HK$20 billion.
Although the Bao Yugang family also took advantage of this opportunity to successfully abandon the ship and land, thus avoiding a greater crisis in the shipping market, the price was still a bit high;
We have made early arrangements, have more abundant funds, and have cheated Jardine Matheson several times. Now we are basically sure of victory. However, in a 100-meter race, even if there is only one meter left, we cannot be careless. We still have to spend the money we should spend on the strategic layout, even if it is wasted. As long as we can ensure victory in the end, that is enough.
The Hong Kong stock market fell again, because neither Jardine Matheson nor Changxing Group was buying in the secondary market;
Similarly, the shareholders' meeting convened by Yang Wendong also made many people understand that the core of this acquisition war is no longer the acquisition in the stock market, but the shareholders' meeting;
The desks that had previously purchased stocks in the exchange were also withdrawn, which dumbfounded many shareholders who had previously intended to wait for higher bids, and they immediately sold their stocks in the market, which naturally led to a drop in the share price of Wharf Holdings.
The same is true for other stock markets. Everyone knows that the big financial groups are not going to mess around in the stock market anymore, so naturally there is no confidence.
Time soon came to early May, and the shareholders' meeting of Hutchison Whampoa was finally held. Even though Jardine Matheson Group wanted to delay it, the law had provisions in this regard. When a major shareholder requested a meeting, it could not be refused. Of course, the behavior of the major shareholder itself was also restricted by the law, and it was impossible for them to hold the meeting whenever they wanted.
The meeting was held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Jardine Matheson Group currently still holds the controlling stakes in Wharf Holdings, so this matter was naturally arranged by insiders. Yang Wendong was too lazy to ask about it. As long as the shareholders' meeting was over, Wharf Holdings would be his.
"Mr. Keswick." Yang Wendong arrived at the meeting place and saw Henry Keswick, Newby and several senior executives of the Jardine Matheson Group. He walked up to them with a smile and said.
Henry Keswick's face twitched, but he still shook hands politely and said with a smile: "Hello, Mr. Yang."
No matter what, in public, everyone has to be polite, even if they lose in the end, they have to maintain the last bit of courtesy;
Yang Wendong added: "The timing of this shareholders' meeting is a bit urgent. The main reason is that I see that the economy in Hong Kong is not very good now, and the performance of Wharf Holdings is not good either. So I thought about holding a meeting and then negotiating with the shareholders."
"Of course I should. I also hope to communicate more with shareholders." Henry Keswick continued with a smile.
Everyone knows Yang Wendong's purpose, but no one can say it out loud.
Yang Wendong continued, "How about we go on stage first? The shareholders will be here soon, so we should prepare in advance."
"Okay, this way please." Henry Keswick said, pointing in a direction.
Many people also walked onto the stage and sat in their seats. On the stage of the shareholders' meeting, this row of seats usually housed board members, major shareholders or bosses. Today's Hutchison Whampoa actually has representatives from two parties, with Jardine Matheson and Cheung Kong on each side. Yang Wendong also sat next to Henry Keswick, and the two were in the middle position.
Time soon reached 10 o'clock, which was also the time for the shareholders' meeting. Most shareholders had already taken their seats;
After Fang Xianming saw the crowd below, he whispered to Yang Wendong: "Mr. Yang, almost everyone who has an appointment with us is here."
"Okay, let's start." Yang Wendong nodded.
Then the shareholders' meeting was held. Representatives of Jardine Matheson and Changxing Group, Niu Bijian and Fang Xianming, spoke in front of the shareholders. The former expressed the past achievements of Jardine Matheson Group in Wharf Holdings, while the latter first expressed optimism about the future of Wharf Holdings, but immediately criticized some of the previous strategies of Wharf Holdings' management, saying that they were too conservative. In the five years from 68 to 72, many companies made a lot of money from real estate, but Wharf Holdings held a large amount of land but made almost no progress.
Of course, this is not just a problem of Wharf Holdings or Jardine Matheson. Most British companies in Hong Kong are basically like this, even Swire is almost the same. Their real estate strategy is too conservative. They finally made up their minds to make a fortune, but it was too late and they fell into the real estate crisis. However, because they are conservative and have no leverage, they did not suffer much loss, except for the radical Hutchison Whampoa.
Now that both parties are basically ready for negotiations, Fang Xianming will naturally not be polite. After a brief description, he said: "The current management of Wharf Holdings has been unable to keep up with the current era in Hong Kong, and its performance in various investments is extremely poor;
Therefore, I suggest that the shareholders' meeting dismiss the current board of directors and management, and let Yang Shenglai of our Changxing Group take over as chairman of the board. Changxing Real Estate will also assist Wharf Holdings in developing land projects in the future.
All shareholders are aware of Changxing Real Estate's current achievements. Ten years ago, it was just a small company, and now its scale is not much different from that of Hong Kong Land, a century-old enterprise. If Wharf can cooperate with Changxing Real Estate, with Mr. Yang's guidance, it will surely bring the highest returns to all shareholders."
As he finished speaking, the stockholders below the scene burst into applause. Some of them were prepared in advance, but some people really thought that Fang Xianming's proposal was very good. When the applause died down, the representative of Jardine Matheson, Newby, asked: "Mr. Fang, the Hong Kong real estate market is sluggish now, and your Changxing Real Estate has not made any moves for a long time, right? How can you guarantee that Wharf Holdings can obtain profits from the real estate market?"
"Just because the real estate market is not doing well now doesn't mean it won't be in the future." Fang Xianming explained with a smile, "And my Changxing Real Estate has not made any moves for a long time, precisely because we have long seen that Hong Kong's economy is overheating, so we reduced investment in advance, thus avoiding huge losses;
Doesn’t this further demonstrate our capabilities? It would be even better if Wharf could cooperate with us.”
After hearing this, many shareholders began to discuss among themselves. Some of them were engaged in real estate business. They knew that Changxing Real Estate had indeed become conservative in the real estate market a year ago, but at that time, they were too confident in Hong Kong's economy and did not take this signal as a warning.
Now that Fang Xianming said this, many shareholders immediately understood that Changxing Real Estate was really powerful and had predicted the economic crisis long ago, so they withdrew in advance.
Looking at the many shareholders who seemed to admire him, Fang Xianming smiled. This was not an exaggeration, but a fact. In fact, many people knew about it. If he mentioned it now, it would show that he was very capable.
Even though they are almost sure of it, at the last moment, it is like a lion fighting a rabbit, and the other hesitant shareholders must also fight for it. Moreover, a narrow victory and a sure victory may be recorded differently in history, and Yang Wendong's satisfaction with this matter will also be different.
Newby said nothing. In terms of real estate, the scale of the Hong Kong Land is indeed large, but that is the achievement of previous generations. Compared with the current Chinese newcomers, the land development is really not comparable. Even the Hong Kong Land is still cautious in renting out houses and building houses with rent.
Of course, this is also somewhat related to the fact that the Jardine Matheson Group is unwilling to over-invest in Hong Kong and does not trust the North. But no matter what, the current results show that things are not going well for their side.
After a while, Fang Xianming looked at his row of people and said, "Everyone, if there are no other questions, let's start the shareholders' meeting voting."
"Sure." Yang Wendong turned his head to look at Henry Keswick and said with a smile, "Mr. Keswick, what do you think?"
Things like confrontation should be left to the subordinates, and the two of them should naturally maintain basic etiquette.
Henry Keswick had a blank expression on his face, not knowing what he was thinking, and agreed, "Okay."
The two largest shareholders agreed, and the voting officially began. Officials from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange immediately took out lists and statistical papers, and began counting the voting rights of each shareholder and the categories they voted for.
This is a rather arduous task, but it must be done by the authorities, otherwise no one will obey anyone else. These people are considered to be qualified and licensed, and if any problems arise, they will be held criminally liable.
Just like that, at about 12 o'clock, a man from the official staff stood up and said to the people on the stage: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have finished the statistics. A total of 48.7% of the shareholders agree to the change of the board of directors. Currently, there is less than 50.1% of the rights."
"Haha, it seems that Mr. Yang didn't do his job well either." Henry Keswick laughed.
What they are betting on is that there won’t be enough shareholders, because many people won’t come, especially a bunch of small shareholders, but there are a lot of them, and together they have a lot of voting rights;
If they don't come, it means they have given up, which is naturally beneficial to Jardine Matheson, which controls Hutchison Whampoa. They are the defending party, and they can only succeed if the attacking party gets 50% approval.
Yang Wendong smiled faintly and said, "Still 1.3% short? This is actually nothing, Fang Sheng."
"Yes, Mr. Yang." Fang Xianming immediately stood up, called a female assistant forward, took the tray from her, and said to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange staff: "Mr. Lin, here are 180 million shares of Wharf Holdings. You can check it."
"180 million shares?" Newby and Henry Keswick's faces changed drastically;
There are a total of 9000 million shares of Hutchison Whampoa, and 180 million shares account for 2% of the shares. On normal days, this amount of shares is nothing, but today it is only 1.3% short. These 2% of shares are enough to turn the situation around.
Henry Keswick said in disbelief, "How could you still have so many stocks?"
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)