The Industrial Giant Reborn - Chapter 648

c639 Indirect plot to run a Mercedes-Benz

The oil crisis is a good thing for Japanese car companies. For German cars, which have moderate fuel consumption and are not focused on fuel efficiency, the impact is also small but not very big. For American cars, which focus on powerful power and space but don’t care about fuel consumption. It was a fatal blow, but the blow was simultaneous. It was not directed at Chrysler. General Motors and Ford also suffered a big impact.

But Chen Zhiwen is specifically eyeing Chrysler. This is not to say that Chrysler can make another comeback like Lee Iacocca did in the 1980s. In fact, Chrysler will be mediocre in the future like this for a lifetime. After the third oil crisis passes, it will be like this again. Returning to its previous state, stocks may be able to come out of the current trough period, but the increase will not be very high. If it is just to make money, then Chen Zhiwen might as well just build some office buildings in the mainland, which is much more cost-effective than investing in it. .

The reason why we still want to invest in Chrysler is naturally because in a few years, there will be a shocking merger and acquisition in the automobile industry: Daimler acquires Chrysler.

In the late 1990s, the Daimler Group had reached its peak of development and its business was unable to grow. In order to seek a breakthrough, it planned to focus on the US market, because at that time, BMW was selling much better than Mercedes-Benz in the US. , and another direction is to enter the low-price market, such as Volkswagen and Toyota. The potential of this market is much greater than the BBA market.

However, whether it is Mercedes-Benz entering the U.S. market on a large scale, or Daimler re-establishing a mid-range car brand, it is a very difficult matter. It not only requires a huge amount of funds, but also takes ten years. layout, and a very high probability of failure, on the contrary, it is much easier to acquire an existing company. From Daimler’s perspective, it is natural to choose the king-level automobile brand in the United States to acquire it.

But General Motors is larger than Daimler. It’s hard to say who will acquire whom. Ford is smaller, but the Ford family has completely controlled the Ford Group through various financial methods. If they want to acquire it, they must obtain The Ford family agrees, but this is almost impossible. The Ford family has always regarded the Ford Group as its own, and outsiders will be attacked even if they are a bit of a threat. For example, Lee Iacocca was the president of Ford before joining Chrysler, but He was driven away by the Ford family because of his great achievements, but it also achieved the myth of saving Chrysler. Moreover, even if Ford is really acquired, the Ford family’s special control method of Ford will be accidentally transferred to Dai Dai after the merger. With Müller, the Daimler Group is not done yet.

Therefore, the final fit was Chrysler.

As a time traveler, Chen Zhiwen naturally knew about the most sensational merger in the automobile industry. Although the final outcome was not very good, the two did merge a few years later. If at this time, he was the major shareholder of Chrysler, he would Naturally, he became the majority shareholder of Daimler-Benz. In addition, before the acquisition, Chen Zhiwen could have raised his Daimler shares to 4.99%, or even exposed it to 9.99%. After the merger of the two major automobile giants, he would become Daimler One of the largest shareholders, it is like auspiciousness for future generations.

Although you can’t get any management rights from Daimler, as long as you are a major shareholder, there will always be many benefits, especially since AMC’s market positioning is not on the same level as Mercedes-Benz, so if you have a good relationship, you can get some technology. Support and marketing assistance are also possible.

Besides, isn’t the point of making money, is to become shareholders of a large number of large companies? Otherwise, why would you need so much cash? Cash or data in banks are actually fictitious. Converting them into actual assets can drive a large number of jobs, output value, taxation, and even major development of an industry, and can change the living habits of many people around the world. That is the real thing. the value of. Otherwise, there is no difference between tens of billions of dollars and hundreds of millions of dollars. You can’t spend it all without committing suicide.

Mercedes-Benz is Chen Zhiwen’s ultimate goal. Anyway, becoming the major shareholder of the world’s largest automobile company will definitely be more valuable than using money to build a house.

“The decline is very severe. Chrysler is the worst among the three giants. After Lee Iacocca retired, the situation became worse day by day.” George said.

“Well, do you know the current Chrysler CEO?” Chen Zhiwen asked.

“I know him, I’ve met him a few times before,” George said.

“Okay, let’s make an appointment sometime and tell him that I want to see him.” Chen Zhiwen said.

George asked: “Then for what reason?”

“Just say, I want to invest in Chrysler.” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

“Okay, then I’ll contact him. Although there’s no guarantee of success, they should come out to meet you.” George said. His boss is also very famous in the United States, in the electronics industry, the financial industry, and the automobile industry. Worse, if such a person comes out as the CEO of Lesler, the other party will not dare to show off. The main reason is that it is unnecessary. There is no hatred among people and they will not cause trouble for themselves.

“Okay.” Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

As Chen Zhiwen expected, when Chrysler’s current CEO Eaton heard about Chen Zhiwen’s invitation, he immediately arranged a time to come and meet him. Two days later, Chen Zhiwen met Lee Iacocca’s friend in a five-star Hilton Hotel in Detroit. heir.

“Hello, Mr. Eaton.” Chen Zhiwen said politely.

“Hello Mr. Chen, I have heard of your name for a long time. When Mr. Iacocca was still at Chrysler, he spoke very highly of you.” Eaton said with a smile.

“Oh, Iacocca is still like this?” Chen Zhiwen said in surprise.

“Yes, he commented, if you were an American, Chrysler would have been acquired by you back then, and your performance in the capital market would have been much higher than it is now.” Eaton said.

“That’s right.” Chen Zhiwen nodded and said with a smile. If he were an American, he would have bought the crappy AMC back then. It would have been better to directly target Chrysler. Although he was heavily in debt at the time, he knew what he would become in the future. You won’t take it seriously. If you say no, will there still be Iacocca?

If he can acquire Chrysler, because Chrysler has a larger scale, stronger technical foundation, and more technical personnel, whether it is developing turbocharging or other fuel-saving technologies, it will be much stronger and faster, and it will also enter the mainland. It will be much more convenient and faster, and the dream of building an automobile business empire in the future will be much more convenient.

Unfortunately, he is not, and he will not change his nationality for the sake of the automobile industry. Business is not everything. Furthermore, there are many industries in the mainland, Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, and the combined scale is much greater than that of a Chrysler. .

If he were an American, it would be impossible for him to control the business lifeline of Hong Kong. Neither the British Hong Kong government nor the mainland government would allow an American to control Hong Kong to that extent.

Also, it is also because he has achieved enough achievements in Hong Kong and Asia that his career expansion in the United States will go smoothly. If he was just a Chinese American at the beginning, he might not be able to achieve the results he has today, unless he directly traveled to become a white American. On the other hand, the upper limit may indeed be higher than it is now.

“I heard from Mr. George that Mr. Chen wants to invest in Chrysler? Isn’t it because he wants to acquire it?” Eaton asked. The oil crisis was indeed not long ago, but Chrysler’s funding problems have always existed. During Iacocca’s tenure, Chrysler We have conducted several mergers and acquisitions, including a European truck group, two American car brands, and several auto parts companies. Although the ultimate goal is to integrate these resources to obtain greater benefits, the imagination is beautiful. In fact, it was not successful, but instead affected Chrysler’s capital chain.

Originally, they could have persisted, but the emergence of the oil crisis made everyone terrified, fearing that the situation more than ten years ago would happen again, especially now that Japanese cars are produced in the United States, and they could not persuade the U.S. Congress to suppress Japanese cars. car.

Once the oil crisis lasts for a long time, Chrysler will inevitably fall into crisis. Therefore, Eaton also needs to make preparations early. Not to mention other things, it must at least obtain sufficient cash flow first, so that it is safer. As for bringing in other shareholders , for Chrysler management, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, the equity has long been diluted to the point where shareholders cannot unite. In companies like Europe and the United States, the management will not be threatened by the shareholders’ meeting unless they make big mistakes. , and under the oil crisis, the company’s long-term severe losses are the biggest factor that may make them pack up and leave.

Therefore, when it was known that Chen Zhiwen intended to invest in Chrysler, Eaton quickly put aside other matters and obtained the funds first, then everything would be much safer. Besides, judging from Chen Zhiwen’s investment experience, he generally would not turn against customers. Infringement of management rights, unless his initial goal is to acquire Chrysler.

“I’m not interested in acquiring Chrysler. This time it’s just a pure investment.” Chen Zhiwen gave him reassurance. With the existence of the UAW, he must think carefully before making an acquisition. In the early days, when the mainland market was not yet open to the outside world, it might still happen. Think about it, even if you give it to him for free now, he won’t want it.

“Okay, can I ask, why do you want to invest in Chrysler again?” Eaton asked again.

“It is purely an economic investment. I believe that the oil crisis will not last forever. After the oil price drops, the American automobile industry will still rise.” Chen Zhiwen explained casually. This was the only reason he could give for exporting. Anyway, Comply with basic investment logic.

“Well, I don’t know, how much does Mr. Chen want to invest?” Eaton asked again.

“How about 30% of the shares?” Chen Zhiwen said loudly. He really didn’t want to manage Chrysler. If it was a normal investment, he wouldn’t need so many shares. A dozen or so shares would be enough. Instead of deliberately acquiring too many shares, then It is better to use other money to invest in other companies. But in the future merger of Chrysler and Daimler, Chrysler itself will only have 40% of the new company’s shares. If it does not hold more, then the remaining shares will be even less. Therefore, , now naturally the more the better.

“This is too much, Mr. Chen. If you own so many shares, wouldn’t it be equivalent to acquiring Chrysler?” Eaton quickly shook his head and said, and at the same time he became suspicious. Isn’t this guy really going to acquire Chrysler? But it is impossible for such a large acquisition to go through the normal process and report it to the government. Although the U.S. government does not have any restrictions on foreign capital investment in the automobile industry, after all, any acquisition by a foreign company involves U.S. companies that employ tens of thousands of people. Requires U.S. government consent.

“I’m quite optimistic about Chrysler’s future, so how much can you give me?” Chen Zhiwen asked.

“Mr. Chen has already invested in our Chrysler before, and the cooperation with Mr. Iacocca was very good at that time, so this time, we can give up 14.9% of the shares.” Eaton said.

“This ratio is too low. You have to know that I can make acquisitions directly in the stock market. At worst, I can just announce it every time it reaches 5%. You can’t stop me.” Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

The disclosure requirement of 5% of the stock share under US law is just a simple disclosure. It is not like the mandatory requirements under British Commonwealth law after triggering a takeover offer. As long as you make a public statement after reaching 5%, you will have a legal vote. You can even become a director of a company, except in industries protected by law, such as high technology, media, etc.

In addition, when the shares exceed a certain level, any move, whether it is selling stocks or increasing holdings, needs to be publicized in advance and set an approximate time. Generally speaking, it must be after the quarterly report of the listed company. This is to prevent the board of directors from Or major shareholders rely on their knowledge of the situation of listed companies to cash out in advance before the news is made public.

There are many restrictions, but this cannot stop Chen Zhiwen, not to mention that in the United States, Chen Zhiwen also has a dedicated investment and legal team that can easily deal with these problems. However, they are all operating in the stock market, which will be more troublesome and require a lot of work. Time, to put it simply, it is much simpler to directly discuss the private placement of shares with Chrysler’s board of directors. However, if the total amount involved is too small, Chen Zhiwen will not agree. This is a matter of principle. If not enough shares are acquired, then Why invest in Chrysler? He’s not doing it for money, more or less doesn’t matter.

“But if you do this, your costs will inevitably increase significantly, and other investors will not let go of such an opportunity?” Eaton said.

“Yes, it can still be successful, but if we do this, Chrysler will not get a penny, but other investors will benefit. It will be a lose-lose for you and me, so we might as well do it again If we cooperate once, you can’t stop me from getting the share of Chrysler shares I want.” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. This is a tug of war in itself. If he really forces himself to play in the stock market, he will spend more money and time. , and Chrysler also suffered huge losses and could not get the funds they needed.

Of course, in fact, Chen Zhiwen has already arranged for people to acquire Chrysler, but it has not exceeded 5%.

“How about 19.9%?” Eaton said again.

“In this way, 24.9% is my final bottom line.” Chen Zhiwen said.

“I need to discuss it with the other directors of the company.” Eaton said after thinking for a moment.

“Okay.” Chen Zhiwen agreed. (End of chapter)