After Hardy and David reached an agreement, the two began to plan, with David contacting HSBC to find out the other party's bottom line first.
As for Hadi, he hid in the dark and created public opinion.
One day later,
David Rockefeller met with people from HSBC in the hotel living room. The leader of HSBC, David Sassoon, was from the Sassoon family.
The assets of the Sassoon family are also extremely large. After hundreds of years of accumulation, their assets may be no less than 10 billion US dollars. They are known as the Rothschild family of the East, and they even had a marriage relationship with the Rothschild family in the past.
Of course, the Shasson family is also a large family. It is impossible for all the assets to be controlled by one person, but rather dispersed among many family members.
After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, the two sat down to chat. David Rockefeller said, "Sassoon, I saw in the investment list that you plan to sell 17% of the shares. I wonder what made HSBC want to sell its shares?"
Huifeng has already thought about this question. Any investor will definitely ask this question. If you say that Huifeng has a problem, the other party will definitely lower the price. This is the simplest routine in the business world.
David Sassoon smiled and said: "In fact, HSBC's financial situation has always been good. After all, we control the currency issuance rights in Hong Kong."
"The Rockefeller family owns shares in the Federal Reserve and controls the right to issue U.S. currency. I believe you know the value of the right to issue currency in a place better than I do."
"The main reason why HSBC wants to introduce shareholders this time is to seek better partners and prepare for opening up a wider market. HSBC has a series of development plans in the future, including developing more business in the UK, entering the US market, and entering other European countries."
"We are very happy that Mr. Rockefeller values us. We are willing to cooperate with a consortium like yours. We believe that Huifeng will have a better future, and your investment will be rewarded doubled."
This Jewish guy kept talking and describing this deal as a powerful alliance, but David Rockefeller did not comment.
"I don't know what Huifeng's current market value is. At what price are you going to sell these shares?" David asked.
"According to our calculations, HSBC's market value is US$330 million, and the sale of 17% of the shares is worth US$56.1 million," said David Sassoon.
David shook his head.
"I don't think HSBC is worth $330 million right now."
"HSBC's main market used to be China. Recently, China has been in turmoil due to the war, and inflation is extremely serious. The financial order is on the verge of collapse. I heard that most of HSBC's banks in China have closed down."
David Sassoon was stunned.
"It is indeed affected to some extent, but our base is in Hong Kong, and our business in Hong Kong is developing very well. A large number of people have come to Hong Kong, and HSBC's business volume in Hong Kong has grown very fast recently."
David looked at David Sassoon.
road:
"When the Japanese occupied Hong Kong a few years ago, they confiscated all of Huifeng's assets. You took Huifeng back only after Japan surrendered. At that time, Huifeng was just an empty shell."
"Although you have replenished some of the funds to allow HSBC to resume operations, only three years have passed. How much profit has HSBC made? I have serious doubts about the market value of 330 million that you quoted."
"I have been following the war in China. There have been several major battles in recent months. Mr. Yuan has already lost most of his territory. I find it hard to believe that he can win in the end."
"If the East wins, they will confiscate all our property. Besides, we have different political ideologies. I'm afraid it will be difficult for Huifeng to return to China. So Huifeng will lose its original market."
"I don't think I need to tell Mr. Sassoon how serious it is to lose the original market for a company."
"This is not the most serious issue. If the other side wins a complete victory, it is hard to say whether Hong Kong can be preserved. Once the other side takes back Hong Kong, all investments in Hong Kong will be wiped out. So this is a very dangerous investment."
David Rockefeller listed the reasons.
David Sarson's forehead was covered with sweat. From David's words, he could tell that the other party was very familiar with the situation in Hong Kong and the Eastern countries, and probably saw through his intentions.
HSBC shareholders are not optimistic about Oriental's situation now, so they are thinking of selling part of their shares to diversify the risks.
Some even plan to sell all of their shares outright.
It is the instinct of capitalists to enter an industry when they see it making money and flee when they encounter danger.
Few people would foolishly hold on to danger just for the sake of so-called beliefs. Such people are not qualified capitalists.
Now that David has also seen the major problems with Huifeng.
I'm afraid this deal will be difficult to accomplish.
"What does Mr. Rockefeller mean?" asked Darville Sassoon.
"If you want to find a partner, you need to offer a sincere price. I asked my economist to calculate, and the current value of Huifeng is probably only 130 million US dollars." David Rockefeller swung his sword and cut off more than half of it.
Upon hearing the other party's offer, David Sassoon was delighted at first, as it showed that the other party was still interested in the deal, or at least did not reject it outright.
But the price is too low.
"Mr. David, HSBC has more than three million customers, with a capital of US$580 million. Its profit this year has reached US$12 million. Its profitability exceeds that of many large banks," explained David Sassoon.
"Risks and the future," said David.
"Mr. Sassoon, I believe you and I both know what kind of investment this is. This transaction is not a normal transaction, but a high-risk gamble. If it fails, all investments will be lost."
"Every banker will be very cautious about high-risk investments. Only when the return is likely to be far greater than the investment will someone be willing to make extremely risky investments. I think this is also the real reason why HSBC sold its shares."
David didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point.
The negotiation ended here. Neither party was satisfied with the other party's offer, but neither party rejected it outright, so the negotiation was temporarily stopped.
Doing business is a game.
It depends on how both sides make their moves.
......
the other side.
Hardy summoned the Global Times's London bureau chief.
He gave him a detailed explanation and asked the newspaper to send someone to Hong Kong to personally convey what Hardy had told him.
Both parties act together.
At the same time, Hardy sent a message to the US Global Headquarters, asking them to cooperate with the actions of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
Henry was then summoned to England with his intelligence personnel, and the London Global Times was asked to cooperate in an in-depth investigation of all information about HSBC.
A few days later.
Through multi-party cooperation.
The details of HSBC were laid out before Hardy and David Rockefeller.
HSBC Bank was founded in 1865. Its shareholders included ten foreign companies, including British Steamship Company, Cassand & Co., Bowie & Co., Jones & Co., Pacific Bank, Shun Cheung & Co., and Chanson & Co.
After more than a hundred years of development, there have been changes. Now the shareholders are more dispersed and have become 18 companies, among which Cassoon & Co. holds 11.3%, British Steam Navigation Company holds 7.5%, and Hong Kong trading companies such as Jardine Matheson, Swire, and Hutchison are also among them.
There were also some British and Indian businessmen involved.
The current president of HSBC, Mr. Sanders, is also a legendary financier. Hardy knew that he did not step down until the 1970s. He led HSBC out of difficulties and developed it into the largest bank in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia.
His successor was the famous Shen Bi.
It was because of Shen Bi's help that Li Gongtan was able to rise in later generations.
HSBC's headquarters is located in Hong Kong, a building similar to the White House. It has a total of 46 branches, including 16 in Shanghai, Beijing, Qingdao, Tianjin, Shantou, etc. in China. It also has branches in the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India and other places.
However, during World War II, HSBC suffered a severe blow. HSBC's Hong Kong headquarters and branches in Southeast Asian countries were all confiscated by the Japanese, their assets were confiscated, and their banks were closed, causing HSBC to suffer heavy losses.
After the end of World War II and Japan's surrender, HSBC took back the banks and the families invested money to resume operations. However, in just a few years, they were far from reaching the pre-war scale.
Moreover, after experiencing that tragic war, the people of East Asian countries were impoverished, and it was very difficult for them to have money deposited in banks, so it was very difficult for them to conduct banking business.
China, Huifeng's largest business location, is still at war. Several major battles have now been fought, and a certain bald guy lost badly. Huifeng has closed most of its domestic branches. As for whether other banks can be kept, it is also very dangerous.
Sassoon and David Rockefeller said that last year HSBC's savings surged and its profit reached tens of millions of US dollars. The real reason was that other banks withdrew funds to Hong Kong. At the same time, the full-year profit accounting was all attributed to Hong Kong. As for the losses, they were all classified as branch losses, so such beautiful data was produced.
In fact, this is cheating, probably just to sell it at a good price.
David looked at the intelligence and was impressed by Hardy's ability to obtain such detailed information in such a short time.
Although the Rockefeller family could obtain this information by mobilizing their forces, the speed would definitely not be that fast.
Speed is advantage.
With information comes initiative.
From this point of view, it can be seen that Hardy's success is not without reason.
"Based on these data, the price I gave of 150 million may be a bit high. Although HSBC is worth this price now, the risk factor is too high. If Hong Kong falls and HSBC loses its main market, the value will be greatly reduced."
David looked at Hardy after he finished speaking:
"Hadi, why did you choose to invest when the risk is so high?"
"Do you think the North cannot win, or that Hong Kong will not be conquered?"
David was curious about what Hardy was thinking.
Hardy shook his head.
"The North will definitely win. This is an irreversible fact. Even with such a huge advantage in the early stage, the Baldies were unable to win. Now the two sides seem to be evenly matched, but in fact one side is in high spirits while the other side is demoralized. They are no longer opponents of the same level."
“Can Hong Kong be saved?”
Hadi smiled.
"This is where we have to gamble. There is a possibility that they will directly occupy Hong Kong, or there is a possibility that the new government will choose not to take back Hong Kong for the time being in view of the international situation. The possibility is 50-50."
"HSBC's shareholders don't dare to gamble. Those foreign companies that have invested in Hong Kong are very scared. If others give up, I will take it. If others take it, I will give it. If I win the gamble, I may get a hundred times the profit."
"Just like you invested in President Johnson?" David looked at Hardy and said.
"Haha, that's about the same principle." Hardy said with a smile.
David is not a gambler, he prefers steady investments. As the Rockefeller family has become a super-conglomerate, they already have abundant capital and do not need radical investments. Steady progress is the most important thing.
People like Hardy who have worked their way up from the bottom are more willing to use radical investment methods in order to quickly accumulate capital.
After learning about the risks of HSBC's investment, David had actually planned to give up, but he found himself influenced by Hardy's passion.
Hardy once told him about his investment experiences, many of which involved gambling, including investing in President Johnson.
He won all the bets.
This time David really wanted to give it a try.
Can this guy win again?
This game should be fun.
At most, this investment would fail, which both Rockefeller and Manhattan Bank could afford. David finally made a decision.
Play this one with Hardy.