The Industrial Giant Reborn - Chapter 622

c614 Lloyds Bank Choice

Lloyds Bank has a long history and is one of the four major banks in the UK. In this era, even HSBC, which dominates Hong Kong, is far behind the four major banks in the UK. However, decades later, HSBC However, it can become one of the top ten banks in the world. It must be said that the ability of the current executive, Shen Bi, is really strong, no less than that of Lee Iacocca, Welch, and Goy (CEO of Coca-Cola), who are ranked among the top 100 banks in the world. CEO, also because Shen Bi had retired long ago when HSBC reached its peak, otherwise it would not be difficult to be selected.

Like Standard Chartered Bank, Lloyds Bank is also managed by the management and basically has no major shareholders. This merger and acquisition was also a decision made by the management to expand overseas markets. However, they did not expect that they would be as crazy as Chen Zhiwen. The sniper attack caused the acquisition cost to skyrocket. As a last resort, it had no choice but to suspend all actions. Its CEO John Taylor came to Hong Kong in person.

The headquarters of Hisense Bank, in an independent office of Chen Zhiwen:

“Hello, Mr. Chen, I am John Taylor, the current CEO of Lloyds Bank. This is my business card.” John, with blond hair and black eyes, is almost 50 years old. He does not look old. He is very energetic and can Said to be at the peak of his career.

However, facing Chen Zhiwen, who looked much younger than himself, he did not dare to be careless at all. If it were a Hong Kong company 20 years ago, he would not have taken a second look at it, even Jardine and Swire, in the eyes of big British capital. There is no way to get on the stage.

But it’s completely different now. With the rise of the mainland, Hong Kong is about to break away from British control, and the Chinese capital in Hong Kong has also expanded rapidly, becoming a new force in the international market. Although it is still far behind the United Kingdom, it is stronger than Lloyds Bank. After all, banks may have money on the surface, but a lot of it is not their own, but just deposits from customers. A large bank’s own funds may not be as good as those of a company in other industries.

This was the case with this acquisition. When Chen Zhiwen invested a lot of money to acquire Standard Chartered Bank shares, although Lloyds Bank would not have no money to deal with it immediately, it can be roughly calculated that if it continues the transaction at the current price, the amount of funds required later will be far more than The actual value of Standard Chartered Bank, and if they join in, the stock price will skyrocket. Although I am helpless and angry, in the business world, the strong is king. Although Lloyds Bank is not small, it will also need to use its resources to acquire Standard Chartered Bank. With limited resources, under such circumstances, fighting against Chen Zhiwen, the richest man in Asia, is completely suicidal, especially at their level, and they know how much profit a beauty can make in a year.

Of course, not only Lloyds Bank, but also Standard Chartered Bank itself was deceived. After the private placement of shares with the two Asian white warriors, the stock price immediately rose sharply. On the contrary, the two white warriors stopped increasing capital and completely It was for nothing, and everyone was stuck in this situation. Although the stocks in their hands looked very valuable, everyone knew that once someone gave up, the stock price would immediately plummet, and several large capitals would be trapped. , but for those small players, if they are smart, it is best to quit now, but money is so exciting, how many people can stabilize their desires?

Although he is a current competitor, Chen Zhiwen will not deny face. After all, there is no big long-term conflict of interest. In the shopping mall, we are not competitors in the same industry, so there is no need for unreasonable conflicts. After receiving the business card, Chen Zhiwen asked: “Mr. Taylor, why did you come to Hong Kong to see me this time? I think it’s better for us to be simple and explain things openly and honestly.”

“Mr. Chen, when I come to Hong Kong this time, I hope that you can give up the merger and acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank, and we, Lloyds Bank, will acquire the stocks in your hands at a high price.” John Taylor said.

“High price? At the current market price?” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Not to mention, if it were really at the market price, Chen Zhiwen would have really made a lot of money. Although this price was also speculated by him, it does not mean that he invested a lot of money. , stocks actually show future value to a certain extent, not the present.

In more than ten years, so many Internet companies will lose money every year, but after going public, their market value will easily exceed 100 million U.S. dollars or one billion U.S. dollars. This is because the market is generally optimistic about their future, not how much money they make in a year now. Of course , except for companies with stable markets and stable profits. These are the actual values ​​displayed.

In the same way, the same is true for the shares of Standard Chartered Bank. First, it was acquired by Lloyds Bank. In this case, it is normal to rise by 30-50%. Then, after the two white warriors Bao Yugang and Qiu Deba died, it could increase by dozens. The percentage increase, coupled with Chen Zhiwen’s high-profile end, pushed the atmosphere to the extreme.

Although he is far away in Hong Kong, Chen Zhiwen’s name is not low in the UK. After all, he is considered to be the most outstanding business person in the Commonwealth, and he is young. He has also acquired Mini Cars, Tesco supermarkets in the UK, and even its own Hutchison Whampoa is still negotiating with the British government to acquire a port. At the same time, a large number of people are also fond of various Midea games, especially the recently popular “King of Fighters”. When Chen Zhiwen resigned, he did not provide much funds. Standard Chartered The bank’s share price soared at a high price, reaching more than three times the price before Lloyds Bank took action.

This is actually Chen Zhiwen’s purpose, to drive up Standard Chartered’s stock price, and then force Lloyds Bank to be unable to make a move, but he did not spend much money. Under normal circumstances, once this kind of hostile acquisition has no hope of success in the short term, it must It had to give up, otherwise it would bring greater losses to the acquirer, which put Lloyds Bank in a very painful dilemma.

If Lloyds Bank really spends a lot of money to acquire Chen Zhiwen’s shares, it may really make a direct net profit of close to one billion US dollars. Of course, for Chen Zhiwen, there is a high probability that he will not agree. Standard Chartered Bank is his first choice to enter the international banking industry. Springboard, there are not many such high-quality springboards in the world, and overseas banks are generally difficult to acquire, so this may be the only opportunity. Otherwise, I will never have a chance with an international bank in this life. I really rely on Hisense Bank to slowly develop. , I guess I may not be able to succeed even when I get old. Compared to this, a billion dollars is nothing.

“Mr. Chen is joking. We all know that the current stock price is seriously artificially high. However, we can acquire it at a price of 22 pounds. There is a condition that you must completely withdraw from the acquisition of Standard Chartered.” John Taylor said.

“This price is indeed not bad.” Chen Zhiwen nodded and asked: “Then what if I acquire the stock in your hand at this price?”

Before Lloyds Bank proposed to acquire Standard Chartered Bank, the price of Standard Chartered shares was around 11 pounds. Now, due to the amount of acquisition competition, the share price has risen to 34 pounds. Although the acquisition price is lower than the current price, in fact, the price of 34 pounds The price can never be truly cashed out. Once either party intends to give up, the stock price will plummet after the market finds out. It involves a large number of stock transactions, and a transaction price of 22 is already very good. In fact, if it weren’t for Chen Zhiwen’s participation, it’s hard to say whether Standard Chartered’s shares would have reached this price even if they were fought over by both black and white warriors.

“Mr. Chen, Standard Chartered Bank is very important to the internationalization of Royce Bank, and we will not give up.” John Taylor said.

“It’s the same for me.” Chen Zhiwen said. In fact, in this situation, both parties can’t continue to increase their investment. Even if they can, it is impossible to do so, because if they do, it will only cause the stock price to rise further, thus Even if this acquisition is successful, it will still be a huge loss. Previously, Chen Zhiwen only participated in speculating the stock price and has not really invested much. If he wants to continue to increase his investment, he will have to invest real money. Although the importance of Standard Chartered Bank is not Money can be used to describe it, but everything has a price, and he is not stupid. There is no way he can really take advantage of others and make himself a joke.

In this game, the real battleground lies in the tactic of “drag”. Whether it is Rice, Standard Chartered itself, or Chen Zhiwen, whoever can’t stand it first will lose, and Chen Zhiwen can definitely drag it to the end easily. .

“Then, how about we cooperate?” John Taylor put forward another opinion.

“How to cooperate?” Chen Zhiwen asked. He didn’t believe that the people from Royce Bank came here just to make him give up. Even a fool could see that he couldn’t give in.

“I know that Mr. Chen acquired Standard Chartered not for economic benefits, but for banking licenses in various countries, just like our Lloyds Bank.” John Taylor said: “So what I mean is that Standard Chartered Bank’s business in Asia belongs to How about you, from other places, be owned by our Royce Bank?” John Taylor asked again, and naturally they had prepared several plans here.

“This is unfair. There are only a few countries in Southeast Asia?” Chen Zhiwen directly refused.

“Mr. Chen, Standard Chartered Bank’s current highest profit is in Hong Kong. Many countries in Southeast Asia are also developing well.” John added: “Also, although Hisense Bank is very large in Hong Kong, it does not have enough international banking experience. Even if After acquiring Standard Chartered, it would be unwise to take over such a company, especially when most of their businesses are still losing money. It is better to try it in Southeast Asia first, which is also a place that can be easily reached by Hong Kong capital.”

“You have done a lot of homework, and what you said makes sense, but I don’t accept it.” Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said: “The offer I give you is 20 pounds per share, a cash transaction. If you don’t agree, then I I won’t give up here, you should know that as long as I don’t let go, you will never succeed, but conversely, if you don’t let go, I still have a certain possibility.”

“That’s true, but if you do this, everyone will suffer heavy losses. Is Mr. Chen really prepared to fight us head-on like this?” John Taylor said with a frown.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m losing a little, but it’s just a little money. No one will cause trouble for me. But as for you, Rice Banker has a great career, so it’s not like you can say what will happen. But for you, it’s hard to say. It will really happen. Huge losses, how can you guys handle so many shareholders and directors?” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

The management-controlled company system that is common in Western societies generally makes it difficult for shareholders to unify. However, this premise is that the company is running normally. Even if the management is awesome, it is not a problem at all to blame the shareholders. But if If you can’t make money or even lose money, you will suffer a greater rebound, and there is a high probability that you will be kicked out directly. At times like this, the large shareholder power system popular in Hong Kong and even Asia has a very good protective effect. Even if the losses are huge, shareholders can only hold their noses and admit it, or dump their stocks and leave.

“Instead of fighting against other capital for a long time, it is better to take advantage of the good times and take enough profits. Although Standard Chartered Bank is relatively high-quality, it is not the only one for you.” Chen Zhiwen continued.

Although I need to spend a large amount of extra money to acquire the Standard Chartered Bank shares they previously acquired from Lloyds Bank, it is still cost-effective, because even if there is no acquisition by Lloyds Bank, if I do it myself, it may cost more than This is more, after all, I am not a British bank. Lloyds Bank can directly contact a large number of Standard Chartered Bank shareholders to make acquisitions, using their network and personal connections, but it does not have this convenience on its own side.

Another thing is that there are some banks like Standard Chartered with branches in many countries around the world, but it may be difficult to get started with Chen Zhiwen’s identity, but Lloyds Bank is much more convenient. After all, they are backed by the United Kingdom and a Western country. Although it has declined , but a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, so I dare say that the United States must be stronger than the United Kingdom.

“Having said that, it is not easy to find the right opportunity. We at Royce Bank have been preparing for this acquisition for several years.” John Taylor said with a frown.

“This is not shopping in a supermarket. There is no first-come, first-served rule.” Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, “However, I can also provide you with certain conveniences. Next time, when you have chosen the target to acquire, I can provide financial help. How about you guys? Whether it’s borrowing money or directly participating, we can discuss it?”

“But we can’t settle something like this in a contract, right?” John said. He was actually a little shaken. Even if Chen Zhiwen didn’t participate, Standard Chartered Bank invited Bao Yugang and Qiu Deba. The victory of both parties It’s hard to say whether you will lose or not. If you can’t convince Chen Zhiwen now, the outcome will basically be decided. Instead of fighting head-on, losing money and threatening the status of your own management, it’s better to find a way to gain some benefits. Then it’s better to escape intact.

“There will be no contract, but this is my promise. Even though it is verbal, I will definitely implement it.” Chen Zhiwen said: “Helping you is not free. If you want me to invest, I will also evaluate it.” Regarding the risks and benefits of investment, if it is just a loan, the interest will be based on the normal market interest. I am just providing an opportunity to give you a backup. If you don’t believe it, forget it.”

“We naturally believe what Mr. Chen said.” John didn’t say anything else. Such a matter of little benefit should not make the other party refuse to admit it. Then he said: “Well, I need to have a conference call with the British side.”

“No problem, I’m waiting for your good news.” Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. (End of chapter)