Negotiations the next day.
When David walked into the conference room, he was holding a newspaper in his hand, and when he sat down he put the newspaper aside. When the people from HSBC saw this, they knew that the other party must have read the news.
The momentum in terms of adequacy has become even lower.
There was a run on banks and people rioted.
This is a very serious crisis event for a bank. There are countless examples in history of banks going bankrupt due to squeeze.
In addition, business was shrinking and there were bad accounts.
HSBC can already be classified as an unsuitable enterprise for investment.
Before HSBC could speak, David spoke first: "I have no patience left. You know, in the UK, there are many projects that the Rockefeller Group can invest in, including oil, mining, banking, and tobacco. There are too many."
"Huifeng is just one of many companies, and now it has so many problems. To be honest, I have gradually lost interest in this investment."
"I'm going to make an offer now. If you agree, then we'll do the deal. If you don't agree, then this investment is over."
"The total market value of HSBC is 113 million, and we want to acquire more than 51% of the shares."
After saying this, David looked at the people from Huifeng.
David Sassoon frowned, "Mr. David, we don't plan to sell so many shares, and the price is..."
Before David could finish, he raised his hand to stop the other party. "My conditions have been made public. It's up to you to decide whether to agree or not. Well, I have a lot of things to do. Let's end the negotiation here. If you agree, you can notify us later. If you don't agree, there's no need to contact us."
After saying this, David stood up, nodded and walked out.
The Rockefeller team followed closely and left the meeting room together.
The rich people were left out there.
David Sassoon sighed helplessly. With the current situation of Huifeng, there is a possibility of collapse at any time. No normal investor would want it.
"Mr. Sassoon, what should we do?" someone asked.
"Go back and discuss it with the shareholders. Those who are willing to sell can sell their shares, and those who are unwilling to sell can keep their shares." David Shaw said unhappily.
......
In the past few days, I have been fighting wits and courage with Huifeng.
Hardy also did a lot.
He reached a cooperation with a British shipping company called 'Liverpool United Shipping Company', whose predecessor was the famous 'White Star Line' company.
Don't know about 'White Star Line'?
It is the owner of the famous "Titanic". On April 15, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank during its maiden voyage.
Later, White Star went bankrupt and was sold to another Liverpool shipping company, Canard. During World War II, Canard was also hit hard. In order to survive, it joined forces with several small Liverpool shipping companies a few years ago to form the "Liverpool United Shipping Company."
The company now owns more than 50 cargo ships, ranging from small ones of over 2,000 tons to large ones of over 10,000 tons, ranking among the top three among British shipping companies.
They are on the investment list this time.
Hardy asked the president of Wells Fargo to contact the other party. After hearing that the Hardy Group was very interested, the president led a team to negotiate with Hardy.
After two rounds of negotiations, Hardy acquired a 25% stake in Liverpool United Shipping by investing 20 Liberty ships and 5 Victory ships.
At the same time, Hardy Shipping leased 50 Liberty ships to Liverpool United Shipping, and this lease could earn Hardy 10 million per year.
There is no need to provide seafarers, as Britain has enough of its own seafarers.
Britain is an island country that is highly dependent on shipping. In the past, British colonies were spread across the five continents of the world, and it was shipping companies that continuously transported supplies from all over the world to the British mainland. Now that Britain needs to rebuild and live, it still needs shipping companies to transport supplies from other countries, so British shipping will inevitably rise in some time to come.
Hardy has become the controlling shareholder or major shareholder of six shipping companies.
Hardy Shipping, Hong Kong Global Shipping, France Bolloré Shipping, Italy Mardi Shipping, Netherlands Nile Shipping Company, UK Liverpool United Shipping.
Several companies will start cooperation in the future.
Today, the Hadi Shipping Group is one of the largest shipping companies in the world, with routes covering the globe.
also.
Hardy also acquired shares in some luxury goods companies.
Burberry.
Dunhill.
......
In fact, what Hardy wanted to buy most was Rolls-Royce shares. Rolls-Royce owns two brands, Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
It’s a pity that they don’t sell it.
He is quite arrogant. If he doesn't want to sell it, then forget it. In fact, he can't make any money by buying Rolls-Royce shares. In any case, Hardy thinks it is not profitable. He just wants it because he likes this brand.
It doesn't matter.
In the future, Rolls-Royce will go bankrupt and be bought out by someone else, and more than once. Then they will come to buy you out and see how you still stand proud.
However, Hardy still ordered several cars from Rolls-Royce.
Six Rolls-Royce fourth-generation Silver Spirit convertible sports cars, all in customized and unique colors, selected by Hardy himself. These cars are given to women.
As for himself, he also ordered one, and this car has not yet been released. It is the latest Phantom IV designed by Rolls-Royce.
This car was specially built for Princess Elizabeth. The princess' new car was still under construction. When Hardy saw the drawings, he immediately fell in love with the calm and majestic shape and expressed his desire to order one. Rolls-Royce once again expressed its pride.
Not for sale.
Expensive items are not for sale.
This was specially made for the princess and is not for sale to the public.
Hardy was very proud of himself, and finally he directly contacted the British Prime Minister. Hardy was a distinguished guest of the American delegation to help Britain resume production.
The British Prime Minister was also in a dilemma and had to call the palace to ask for the opinions of King George VI and Princess Elizabeth.
The future Queen, Princess Elizabeth, was very generous and said that the members of the delegation were all distinguished guests who came to the UK to invest and help the UK. She also heard about Jon Hardy, who was said to have assets of several billion US dollars. They came to support the construction of the UK, and their wish to order a car should be met.
Moreover, this can also boost the British economy.
You have to know that a car costs hundreds of thousands of pounds, which is equivalent to more than 200,000 US dollars. Even now, Rolls-Royce is the most expensive car.
Princess Margaret was beside her father and sister. When she heard about this, she curled her lips and said, "That guy named Jon Hardy really doesn't have a top hat. Rolls-Royce said they wouldn't sell it, but he still insisted on getting one."
George VI looked at his youngest daughter and smiled, then said to his eldest daughter, "In a few days, the royal family will hold a ball to entertain the aid and inspection groups. I have already given instructions for this matter, and you will be mainly responsible for it from now on."
"Yes, father." Princess Elizabeth responded calmly.
Princess Margaret rolled her eyes and thought of John Hardy. She thought that when she got to the ball, she would probably be able to meet that annoying guy. If she had the chance to humiliate him secretly, she would probably look very excited.
With the consent of the British royal family,
Hardy owns a car that will be the same model as the future Queen of England, but it may take another year or two before he can get the car.
......
Five days have passed.
The HSBC Bank incident in Hong Kong has not yet been resolved.
Thousands of people gathered outside the gate all day long, shouting slogans and demanding the redemption of their passbooks. The gate of Huifeng was closed and the bank was unable to operate.
These people seem to be determined not to leave unless you give them money.
Normal business of Huifeng could not be carried out at all and all activities came to a standstill. The management was at a loss and asked the board of directors for advice.
No one on the board of directors is concerned about whether to conduct business or not. They are all considering whether to sell shares. The bank itself is in trouble and there is a major crisis in the future. Once Hong Kong is taken back, HSBC's most valuable right to issue banknotes will no longer exist. I am afraid that it will not be able to sell more than a few millions relying only on those branches in Southeast Asia.
They are all investors. When they see investment risks, the first thing they think about is how to maximize their own interests and sell their shares at a high price while there is still a chance.
sell,
This is already a consensus.
It's just a matter of price.
What Rockefeller offered was too low, far from what they expected. However, at this critical juncture, the squeeze incident occurred, exposing all the problems they had covered up at once, and the value was naturally greatly reduced.
In the conference room.
The atmosphere was not harmonious.
A HSBC shareholder stood up and said solemnly, "We have already held meetings for two days. I feel that we can't delay any longer. The Hong Kong headquarters is crowded with people withdrawing money. A bigger conflict could break out at any time. I sent a telegram to the Hong Kong Police Commissioner, but he said that he has done his best and there is no way he can suppress these people by force."
"Everyone, whether you agree or not, I have already decided to sell. I am worried about the future of Huifeng, so I decided to terminate this investment. If you do not agree to a collective sale, then I will contact those who want to purchase shares individually."
The others frowned.
When cracks appear in a dam, it is close to collapse.
HSBC contacted David Rockefeller and told him that they agreed to the offer and were planning to sell more shares because many shareholders were not optimistic about HSBC's future.
In particular, the two largest shareholders, the Sassoon family and the Freeman family, are preparing to sell all of their shares, while some families choose to dilute and sell part of their shares to avoid risks.
Finally, HSBC plans to sell 54% of its shares.
On the day of the transaction, David brought Hardy with him and introduced him to the HSBC people: "This is Mr. Jon Hardy of the Hardy Group. I'm sure you have heard of him."
Huifeng's shareholders had naturally heard of Hardy and shook hands with him one after another.
David continued: "This transaction is very risky. I found a partner, so the acquisition was completed by Manhattan Bank and Wells Fargo."
HSBC doesn't care whether it is acquired by one company or two companies. They just want to sell their shares as soon as possible.
Hardy and David had already discussed it before coming. A big reason why David wanted to do this business was to try to join forces with Hardy. He himself was not a particularly fond of gambling, so David planned to give most of the shares to Hardy.
In the end, HSBC sold 54% of its shares, Wells Fargo acquired 34%, and Manhattan Bank acquired 20%. Hardy suddenly became HSBC's largest shareholder, spending more than 38 million US dollars.
After the transaction was completed, a board meeting was convened and Hardy was announced as the new chairman of HSBC. Hardy discovered that the four major trading companies in Hong Kong, Swire, Jardine Matheson, Wheelock and Hutchison, all held shares in HSBC, but not much, only about 4 to 5 percent each.
When the bank changed hands, HSBC President Sanders immediately brought several vice presidents to the UK to meet the new chairman.
They were all very nervous when they came. They heard that the new chairman was the boss of Wells Fargo Bank and he had his own bank. Would he replace them all?
When meeting with the bank's management, David specifically asked to go along to see how Hardy would handle the current HSBC problems.
"Hello, Mr. Hardy, hello, Mr. Rockefeller." Sanders greeted the chairman and major shareholder respectfully.
He then reported the current situation of Huifeng to the two major shareholders. In fact, Hardy had already known Huifeng's situation in detail. After hearing Sanders' more detailed report, he confirmed a lot of his intelligence.
After listening to Sanders' report, Hardy said: "The biggest problem now is the cash squeeze, right?"
"right."
"I will help you solve this problem. Wells Fargo and Manhattan Bank will temporarily lend a sum of money to HSBC Bank, enough to pay all bills and deposits. This matter must be solved beautifully. Anyone who comes to withdraw money must pay it to guarantee the credibility of HSBC."
"Second, Hardy will send an assistant to the chairman. I don't know if you know Victor. He will be the assistant to the chairman. At the same time, Wells Fargo and Manhattan Bank will each send a supervisory director to join the management team."
"Third, the management must be mentally prepared that mainland business may be completely stopped. HSBC banks that are still operating in Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places must withdraw to Hong Kong as soon as possible to avoid chaos caused by the sudden incident."
"Fourth, regarding the issue of Hong Kong companies selling off their assets, Mr. David and I agree that we should buy at low prices and lower prices to acquire high-quality assets in Hong Kong, such as land, companies, luxury homes, docks, warehouses, buildings, etc."
"Every financial crisis is a great opportunity to make a fortune and counterattack. As long as we seize this opportunity, we will earn countless times more than normal investment. Normal investment annual growth of 5% to 10% is already very good, and growth of 20% is already excellent. During a financial crisis, if we are optimistic about some projects that will rise in the future, the rate of return may be hundreds or thousands of times higher."
"Finally, let me talk about your affairs. I don't plan to make any adjustments to the current management, but I will conduct an assessment. I hope that everyone can pass the assessment of the Hadi Group and continue to stay and serve Huifeng."
After hearing the comments, the management of HSBC said they would work diligently and responsibly.
Management meeting concluded.
David's opinion of Hardy is that he uses both kindness and strictness, manages in a tough manner, and handles things efficiently and effectively. However, there is a problem: when did he agree to lend money to Huifeng from Manhattan Bank? David asked immediately.
Hardy looked at David and said, "You are the majority shareholder of Huifeng. If you don't take the money, then who will? And we are just borrowing and paying interest. In fact, Huifeng's financial situation is not that bad. It's just that it is squeezed and short of cash flow. As long as each of our two families takes out 20 million and puts the money in the vault, the situation will be calmed down immediately."
"Once Huifeng has gotten over this, the money will be returned soon."
David thought about it and agreed, "Okay, I'll send a telegram to ask Manhattan to loan 20 million to HSBC."
After David left, Hardy smiled secretly. Once the money arrived, the bills of exchange and savings certificates he collected would come in handy. That was more than 26 million US dollars. Once he got the money, he would have recovered more than half of the money he had spent on buying Huifeng shares.
And I heard from Mr. Xu in the north that due to the rush, only these were found this time, but it is estimated that more can be found.
If there are so many more, and Hardy converts them all into cash, then all the money used to acquire HSBC will be returned, which is equivalent to getting HSBC Bank for free.
This should be considered another successful attempt to get something for nothing.
Huifeng controls so much Hong Kong assets. Once the Hong Kong turmoil is over, these assets will inevitably increase dramatically. By then, he will be able to become the world's richest man just by relying on Hong Kong's assets.
Now that the wealth is in my hands, I will definitely not do the dirty things that people did in later generations, and I will only benefit the people.